Danganronpa: Lost City of Talent
by zombiefear101
Summary: (SYOC) A city of talented ultimates who came to escape the war on hope and despair. Protected by the Ultimate inquisitor who live relatively peaceful lives. But that peace my be disrupted sooner then they would think.(19/18) (APP CLOSE)
1. Enter Ultimate city

There was a time when we all could balance how we feel. Society was normal, kids would play in the playgrounds, students would attend schools without fear, it was a simpler time, a more hopeful time. A time back when we all could experience holidays, family gatherings, while balancing it with hardship and loss. Hope and despair used to be able to be symbiotic and beautiful together, it never had to be balanced one way or the other we could all find our own way to go through life. Until a lone High School girl of all things decided that wasn't an option anymore. How could one girl be the catalyst for something so big, so awful, so tragic…

That it would go down in human history simply as The Tragedy.

Hope's Peak Academy became ground zero when hopeful youths were killed by one very talented and very bored individual. It blew up the world in controversy, led to the uprising of many hopeful youths wanting to be accepted into an uprising that would end in all of their lives by their own hands aside from one lone survivor who some would say had the brightest future of them all stolen from him, and turned the world into madness. The best child prodigies followed the high school tyrant into the streets to help spread her agenda of despair. Before long the riptides pulled everyone into the depths of despair. Mother on son, brother and brother, children's blood running through the streets while adults laughed, soon after the exact opposite being the case when they would rip through with Bears of destruction. One bear and one girl.. it's all it took to throw that balance away. It meant nothing anymore, the only way to live was in utter despair, or to throw yourself into blind hope.

The world suffered the consequences, thrust into a war between hope and despair that ravaged the lands making most of the world uninhabitable. The environment took such a toll on its land that even oxygen itself was a rarity. Environments like Towa City would be praised for their scientific genius in creating a perfectly liveable and breathable atmosphere, until they themselves became selfish, they became paranoid and scared and isolated themselves. And who could blame them, the world was over, now just a husk of what humanity was. Though maybe if you listen to them the world was just beginning.

The Future Foundation, representative of humanity's last hope, they went about fighting despair wherever it would go in this ongoing war, the last ultimates and all the agents remaining going to war against the lone agent of despair and her army of ursine destruction. At least that's what the history books would tell you, they would forget a beacon of hope placed by the Future Foundation, guarded by the Inquisitor of Hope, a place where ultimates who wanted nothing to do with the war could live in complete and utter harmony. Technology was built to give this city a chance, to preserve humanity's hope even if they wished to just avoid all of the chaos and destruction brought about by people who never gave them a choice.

A Proud City

A City of Ultimates

And unfortunately… A Lost City

…...

"RISE AND SHINE URSINE!" A loud beep permeated the air after that tune as a large hand came over and slammed itself into the head of the bear shaped alarm clock which had many, MANY chips into it over the years. He appreciated this alarm clock, reminded him of the things he fought against, for every day he would wake up to that voice he knew it was a dawn of his nightmares and a future he would fight against. One day he'd burn this alarm clock, but today wasn't that day. Though the tune was new, that was weird.

He sat up in his bed with a simple white t-shirt on and his black boxers clad with little red spades on them, he looked so simplistic nobody would have known how important he truly was to the success of his surroundings. He stood up his rather tall 6 ft 2 frame towering over a lot of his peers. He scratched his chin tiredly and noticed that it felt hairy and scratchy, a small beard of stubble finding itself on his chin. That was weird he swore he could have shaved yesterday. He went to the bathroom to turn on his sink to brush his teeth and… no water came out. He found this all so strange as he looked up to the mirror and saw that his hair was getting shaggy, the dark green hair going down to his eyes. He… got a haircut last week? Things were getting weird and yet he had always found himself so calm. Deep breaths, deep breaths, remember your mission. Protect the innocent and shelter those who wish not to get involved. He got out of his bathroom and went to his closet but found lying in front of it perfectly folded was his usual outfit, but he put this away yesterday…. and it was wrinkly.

Shoving those thoughts aside he began to dress himself, keeping on his long sleeved white t-shirt he placed a black tie over it putting it around his neck and allowing it to hang there. He would then match that with some black pants also with little red spades over the kneecaps and a pair of black boots with red laces which he double knotted. He then put his belt on, a silver belt with red tinted holes to loop his belt into. Finally over all of this he put on his dark red trench coat that billowed past his body down to his feet almost like a cape. He reached down and put on a black top hat putting that on his head. It was time to begin another day as the Inquisitor of Hope

KAZE KAIN- ULTIMATE INQUISITOR

He walked to the door of his room and paused looking around. He didn't know why but things seemed different. All he did was go home and go to sleep yesterday and now all this weird stuff was going on. Were things… different? No that is impossible, if something was amiss he would know. He was Kaze Kain, the Inquisitor of Hope, the Future Foundation's secret weapon against despair to guard the Ultimate City. Deep breaths Kaze deep breaths, you are the protector of the innocent, a hero in this tale of war. He opened the door to step outside into the Ultimate City and it was all too soon after he would realize

War…. never cared about the innocent

 **Rules these are the simple rules you must follow to send in a character**

 **\- For the time being please send in one character per person for now, those may change depending on what happens.**

 **\- Please send the character through pm to make it easier.**

 **-Please be detailed in the app.**

APP

Name:

Ultimate:

Age (12 to 18):

Gender:

Sexuality:

Why did they get the title ultimate:

Appearance:

Outfit:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Backstory:

People they would be romantically interested in:

Biggest fear:

Biggest secret:

Could they be the Mastermind? Why/Why not?:

Why have they entered the ultimate city:

View on the ultimate city:

 **For those who** **are accept you will get the secondary app with more detail to help us out, thank you and can't wait to see your characters.**


	2. Final Cast

**Some side things that I forgot to mention I was sort of in a rush to post this. The app itself can be found on my profile so if that helps you guys it is there. Also it is not first come first serve, me and my co-writer (who if you wanna send to him go right ahead) dimentioman97 will just look until we find the cast we are looking for. also one more additional rule since we gotten a few.**

 **\- Danganronpa main story line takes place in Japan, so we would like the characters to all be Japanese, those if your a foreignor then explain why your here. Thank youj**

 **Protagonist- Kaze Kain- Ultimate Inquisitor**

 **(Males)**

 **1- Daichi Souma- Ultimate Director**

 **2- Satoshi Yugimoto- Ultimate Collector**

 **3- Deku Inazuka- Ultimate Thief**

 **4- Wataru Hisakawa- Ultimate Paleontologist**

 **5- Shino Tamari- Ultimate ?**

 **6- Kyojin Otoshidan- Ultimate Actor**

 **7- Takeshi Kagohara- Ultimate Police Officer**

 **8- Orochi Sakamoto- Ultimate Game Designer**

 **9- Noboru Takahashi- Ultimate tight rope walker**

 **(females)**

 **1- Kaori Moriya- Ultimate Bodyguard**

 **2- Tomomi Kamato- Ultimate Journalist**

 **3- Tokaku Nishimiya- Ultimate Hypnotist**

 **4- Kiaria Ongaku- Ultimate Violinist**

 **5- Haruna Aiki- Ultimate Online Reviewer**

 **6- Yuki Hashimoto- Ultimate Memorizer**

 **7- Takara Uoshi- Ultimate Museum Curator**

 **8- Kaoru Matsushita- Ultimate Perfumer**

 **9- Kerria Than- Ultimate Puppeteer**

 **10- Tsukasa Thailynn- Ultimate Dancing Painter**

 **And Now we have our cast I will try to have that chapter up as soon as I can, and of course to my 20 BEAUTIFUL citizens of the ultimate city... welcome. Sign the despairing Mayor.**


	3. The hope filled meetings of strangers

**Hello everyone this is Zombiefear and finally we have officially started the story. I hope you all enjoy it. It took not that long and I must say this, I did not write this. My co-author Dimentioman97 did and I think he did amazing. Honestly I think he is a better writer then I. So all praise should go to him. Tell us what you think of your characters and if we did a good job.**

How? It was a question that constantly ran through the Inquisitor's head as he stepped out of his house, his boot landing on the barren dirt that was once fertile grass. How had the city that was once a prosperous haven for ultimates been turned into this? How long had he been asleep? The evidence all pointed to it being a long time since he last woke up, his facial hair, the way things were laid out in his room, and again the face he just woke up to Armageddon outside of his house. And the biggest one… how had he let this happen? He was the Inquisitor of Hope, guardian of the Ultimate City and yet here it was, in shambles.

And yet, something strange stuck out to Kaze. He noticed that the second he stepped out of his house he was in an area that looked like a small suburban neighborhood. Rows of houses were lined up on opposite sides of each other, in between the rows was a street that ended in a small little oval at the end that led up to his house straight in the middle. Kaze remembers these suburban areas, they were placed all around the city. Each Ultimate was given their own house and were put into little communities with each other so that no Ultimate would go without interaction. So it was strange that as he looked around the area this suburban area seemed untouched. The buildings in the distance, the cracks in the road, even the grass underneath his feet had all been decimated by an attack but this community stood strong, this community was still standing… why? As Kaze remembered this was where the most powerful members of the city were located, the people in charge, the overseers of any specific aspects of the city and those that were responsible for the city itself. He walked up to the house closest to him, taking a left and again noticing it was in pristine condition. No cracks in the windows, no missing tiles on the roof, the small set of stairs to reach the porch area didn't even creek it was astonishing how untouched it was. He was about to knock on the door when he saw a small little picture on the front of the door. It was a small hand drawn picture of a girl with her hair done down over the side of her head. Strange, that picture looked nothing like the previous owner of this house, not at all… not even the same gender. With a moment of hesitation he knocked on the door.

Within a moment his trained ears picked up on something, or rather nothing. If someone was in there then he couldn't hear their footsteps, which was something his training had taught him to be able to identify. This had never happened before, was he out of practice or was he simply-

Before Kaze had time to fully process that thought he heard the creek of the door open and then he saw someone standing in the doorframe. She was a woman, shorter than him by a decent margin, 5 ft 5 if he had to say. He immediately noticed it, dark brown hair that was fashioned into a ponytail and placed onto her shoulder, just like the picture, although it was missing the colorful scrunchy-like accessory that held it up. Her outfit consisted of a short sleeve button down shirt that had the top two buttons undone, a deep purple scarf tucked into it and over top of all that was a dark blue blazer with a black belt around the waist. Rather than a skirt she wore black shorts matching with her solid black tights with some slouchy boots to hold the outfit together. She looked up at him with wide, brown eyes, and they were analyzing him as if searching for something and then in an instant, curious and alive. "Inquisitor Kane? Are you really Inquisitor Kaze Kane?!" She instantly pulled almost out of nowhere a notebook and looked at him expectantly before leading the conversation, not even giving him a chance to respond. "I don't think we've ever formally met, I'm Tomomi Kamato, freelance journalist and gateway between the people and the ultimate city!"

TOMOMI KAMATO- ULTIMATE JOURNALIST

Kaze looked back at her with a curious expression himself before like a true gentleman he bowed and tipped his hat to her "Ma'am," he greets before even starting the conversation "That's correct yes I am Kaze Kane, it's nice to meet you." Especially under the circumstances, this meant other people were still alive, or at least one other person was.

Her brown eyes lit up as she quickly flipped through her pages looking frantically for an empty one "Oh this is perfect, finally a one on one confrontation with the Ultimate Inquisitor, poster boy of the Ultimate City!" She finally found her page and put her thumb on it "Ah alright here we are, do you have time for a couple questions?"

Kaze looked at her and then his head cocked to the side in confusion before he gave her quite the critical look "No, I don't. In fact I have questions of my-"

He got cut off at the knees as she just started to let loose. "Is it true the selection process for Ultimates was very agonizing and picky? Did the Board of Talent pick every single Ultimate or did you have influence? How did you become the Ultimate Inquisitor?!" Her hands became a blur as she quickly scribbled down her questions onto her notepad in her own little world not wanting to waste this perfect opportunity she had with the Inquisitor. Kaze on the other hand just watched her go off as she rattled off questions not seeming to take no for an answer. Kaze decided to take the matter into his own hands and moved himself so that he was next to her and then gently took her chin and lifted it up from the notepad. "Hey what's the-" And then her curious wide eyes went to the size of dinner plates "Holy moly… what's this?" It seems like this was the first time she was seeing this herself. The Ultimate City… it was decimated. "What… what happened?"

Kaze took a deep breath and looked down to the side "So you don't know either?"

Tomomi looked back at him in slight shock as she bit down on the pen in her hand "What do you mean either? You… didn't suspect I knew anything about this did you?! I find the truth Mr. Kane I don't-"

He puts his hand up to stop her before she strayed too far off base "Relax, I am simply wondering what you know. Up until about ten minutes ago I was asleep in my bed, it feels as though I was asleep for a long time, perhaps even set up. I just want to get a handle on the situation as the guardian of this city. If you could just tell me what you know that would be very helpful."

Tomomi took a deep breath herself, in through her nose, out through her mouth. "Ok, I'm sorry I am just so used to horrible people denying their atrocities, I should know better than to make assumptions… I'm good. I'm often told I get a bit excitable when I get a big scoop."

Kaze crossed his arms a bit and gave a sideways smile "Really? You? I couldn't imagine."

Tomomi pouted her own arms crossing in return "Oh ha ha, Mr. Kane it appears we both just simply want to find the truth, let's not resort to teasing now."

Kaze takes a moment and then nods in approval "Agreed… for now we should work on finding clues, survivors, anything that can tell us what has happened here."

Tomomi actually seemed genuinely excited "That is my specialty, I get to the bottom of whatever I put my mind to, Tomomi Kamato always gets her scoop!" She quickly started her trek to the house next to hers wanting to get a head start on the clue hunt. Kaze could give her one thing, she was devoted. Now it was his turn to help, as she examined the houses on the left row he went to the ones on the right seeing if he could find anything. He went from house to house, knocking on several doors all seeing these hand drawn portrait style pieces of paper on each of them, it was starting to become a bit unnerving. And then his trained ears picked up on something, a crunching sound, and it was coming from behind the sixth house on the right. He readied himself for everything as he walked around the side of the house and then…

There was another girl kneeling there, her eyes downcast on a particular spot of charred earth. "Blue roses, a patch of 17 fully bloomed flowers and eight seeds planted on the way.. unfortunate." The sentence indicated mourning and sadness but the tone was completely neutral and matter of fact startlingly so. She looked around the same size as Tomomi maybe slightly taller and yet she was much paler, her skin having a vague peach tone to it. She had silver hair with cyan highlights that went down to her waist, it was straight until it reached her shoulders and then from there downward it was put into a braid. She had a white blush on with a long pleated A-Line skirt complimented with brown knee socks and black dress shoes. Atop her head was a white sun hat, and on the left side of that was a yellow bond with a blue rose attached to it. "... I suppose I will have to make the one I have last then."

Kaze felt his stance grow less tense, he was more relaxed seeing her, for at least on the surface she didn't seem dangerous. He took a couple steps towards her and she spoke up without even turning to face him she said "Crunch from size 14 shoes, judging from proximity to my house and yours… Kaze Kain you survived."

Kaze nodded in return as he knelt down next to her "... Hello Yuki, long time no see." He remembered her and he knew for a fact she remembered him, it was her talent after all.

The girl he remembered as Yuki shrugged "Apparently, the city is very different now."

YUKI HASHIMOTO- ULTIMATE MEMORIZER

Kaze lets out a sigh for a moment nostalgia taking over his thoughts as he remembered the grand cityscape this place once was, "Yes much, this neighborhood seems to be standing but the rest of the city is gone."

Yuki looked around herself and shakes her head "I don't see the problem, they are just buildings, the Future Foundation has funds, we are ultimates, if they prioritize us like they have the city will be rebuilt soon enough."

Kaze's eyes turned into a glare as he moved closer to her standing up his full height standing over her. She looked up at him and her eyes never changed from their neutral state "Relax, I am simply stating facts, as the Overseer it is my job to analyze the exact placement, numerical and monetary value, and ultimate(s) placed with in each building and keep them documented inside myself, I do not need to hold emotional attachment… you can't be angry at me for doing my job can you Mr. Inquisitor?"

Kaze rubs his temples in frustration but for both of their sakes he drops it. He didn't like it when the Ultimate City felt like it was being disrespected, but knowing Yuki as long as he has he knew she never really understood the emotional attachment people could hold within things, that was just who she was. It was why she was the Overseer and placed in Community A after all with all the other leaders. She was the one who would lead inspections on each house, utility, business venture, you name it within the Ultimate City and could tell instantly if something was missing or against regulation, it was her niche. "... you haven't changed at all Yuki."

She stares again with her blank eyes "Did you expect me to? We are Ultimates Kaze, we aren't supposed to change, we're supposed to be at the top and then stay there."

He groaned in minor annoyance but in a way was glad she was still around. "So Yuki do you have any idea what happened?"

Yuki "No" she stated that so quickly and her eyes never moved.

Kaze "... none whatsoever?"

Yuki "No not at all."

Kaze let out another heavy sigh "Well it is nice to see you are still alive of course."

Yuki "..." she stayed quiet for a moment "The houses are different, I see drawings of Ultimates that I can only vaguely recognize from other Communities. They aren't supposed to be here."

Kaze's eyes widened and he got closer to her "Do you know who they are Yuki?! If anyone could tell me it would be you!"

Though much to his disappointment she said "I can't tell based on the drawings alone, if you could give me names I could place them." Kaze cursed to himself but she continued "However I counted the houses, there are twenty in total. With you and me excluded that makes 18, if each of them are filled than that means there have to be at least that many other survivors, one would have to believe they were placed there for a reason."

Kaze then nodded his head listening to her, his hand going to his chin in concentration "What you are saying makes a lot of sense, I agree."

Yuki decides to add on "I didn't see anybody else in this area, granted I haven't checked the other houses but if they got up and we are both in this area, I can only assume they did not leave the immediate vicinity. With how much uncertainty there is about how stable this city is they must be here in this community."

Kaze perked up hearing her explanation and immediately turned around "I shall go look for them, you can come if you wish."

Yuki shrugs again "Perhaps later, though for now I shall stay here and observe the area."

Kaze walked back towards the front of the houses but before he did he stopped "Oh Yuki before I go… there is a girl here Tomomi Kamato, keep an eye on her as well."

Yuki seemed to stiffen for a second and then she recited out from memory "Tomomi Kamato, Ultimate Journalist, Community F, distinguishing features include-" Kaze watched her do her thing for a moment and then rolls his eyes. He took that as a yes and turned to leave feeling he had more important things to go about doing. He made sure to check the rest of the houses before he left the area and as he did he could see Tomomi on the other side enthusiastically checking the houses seeing if anybody would come out, likely thinking of questions she would ask the ultimates. Kaze smiled a bit glad some things wouldn't change and then he turned towards the street. It led down the road to a series of streets that amongst the wreckage of larger buildings and community centers there were still a good assortment of standing utilities, Kaze couldn't help but wonder why but figured there was a good chance people would gather there.

As he walked down the street he remembered when people would go down these streets, and when the world seemed to exude color, where Ultimates ran free and would do whatever they so pleased to their heart's content. No war that they never asked for, just peace… and know that wasn't here anymore. When he returned back to reality he looked next to him and saw a building, decorated with honors and exuding pride and accomplishment. The Blue building adorned with a giant gold badge. The Ultimate City Police Station, and he smiled instantly. Kaze knew if he was still alive he would be here, it was a big if but what did he have to lose? They didn't get off on the best note but he could be someone any survivors needed right now. He walked into the Police Station…

… and for better or worse, he was right. Standing in there was a man larger than Kaze himself, 6 ft 3 with tanned skin, short dark hair brown hair, and serious piercing eyes behind thick eyebrows. He wore a dark blue button-up shirt with the top button undone and his sleeves rolled up, and underneath that showing through e opening in his shirt was an unzipped black portion of body armor, put together with cream colored combat pants and brown laced combat boots. This was completed by a black belt with a metal buckle and a set of dog tags around his neck. He spotted Kaze whilst he was rooting through some police files, not so gently tossing them aside to approach him. "So Inquisitor, what brings you to my shitty little abode huh?" His eyebrows furrowed to form a scary and serious expression, giving Kaze a glare to which Kaze gave an indifferent sigh

"... Hello Takeshi."

TAKESHI KAGOHARA- ULTIMATE POLICE OFFICER

Takeshi looked back at him with a smile only a rival could give "Figures you'd still be alive you tough son of a bitch."

Kaze replied "I could say the same to you."

Takeshi chuckled and then snapped back "So, the hell happened while I was sleepin huh?"

Kaze shrugged "I was hoping you could tell me, doesn't seem like anybody knows anything so far."

Takeshi "Yeah well sorry to burst your bubble champ but that ain't any different with me, I'm tryin to make sure all the police files are here. Any Ultimates that ended up in here are dangerous business and I gotta make sure these files stay safe." Then there was an edge to his voice when he said "Not like that would be a problem to you right?"

Kaze knew him and Takeshi never saw eye to eye. Ever since the Ultimate City was established people had asked why we needed a police force if the Ultimate Inquisitor would protect us from everything. Every time there was a threat to the city Kaze handled it before Takeshi even had a chance. Soon enough the police was just known for handling petty vandalism and street crimes whilst Kaze was the sole hero the city needed. Takeshi due to his success and important role in security lived in Community A with Kaze and Yuki but he always felt like he didn't belong there and didn't want to belong there, he took out a lot of that on Kaze.

Takeshi adjusted his dog tags and growled out "Well, shouldn't you be out finding the rest of them? I'll just be here, doing paperwork."

Kaze bit his lip to refrain from saying something completely unprofessional back to him but then said "Takeshi… the city has been busted apart, could we please just cut the crap and not be petty?"

Takeshi let out another chuckle this one turning into a laugh "Oh Kaze you should know better than anyone, I can be pretty damn petty… now go along now you got a job to do, I'll do mine." Kaze stared at him for a moment and gave him a glare, but then just nods and goes to leave. Whatever made Takeshi comfortable, and whatever let him deal with this in his own way. Right before he left Takeshi said with his head in the safe "Oh and try not to die out there Kain, I'd hate to be the one to send you to the coroner." I suppose that was comforting.

He left the Police Station allowing Takeshi to do his own thing. He continued to walk down the streets seeing the streets, the sidewalk cracked with corrosion, the land ravaged by some sort of acidic substance, it didn't look natural. What could have done this? Why would somebody do this? Did they do something wrong? Did he do something wrong? He wasn't wallowing in self pity but it seemed like he felt like things were off and he felt responsible. He walked forward and almost walked into the next building down the street. The hospital… it was only a block away from the Police Station, this was the street where the public services were gone. The firefighter station, the local pharmacy, they were destroyed but the hospital was standing, that was good at least they could get medical supplies. He walked inside the hospital and immediately he heard something break followed by a meek little "dangit!" He entered into his cautious state and snuck towards where he was hearing the sound, hearing more words coming from the room to his right. He then turned and saw yet another female standing in there playing around with some beakers, this one he didn't recognize.

Her back was turned to him to him wear he saw her body enclosed in what looked like a red raincoat and matching red rain boots. He could see running down over her coat was long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail with a cute green bow. She turned to him and looked up with her pale skin and big, dark blue eyes. And I mean she really had to look up, only being 4 ft 2 she was so comparatively tiny to Kaze it was outstanding. She must be one of the younger people here so he tried to be gentle. "Um hello there miss, are you ok?"

She looks up at him and smiles her hands coming together "Oh hey there big guy! What's up?" She said normally as the fluid she spilled out of the crashed beaker ran across the floor

Kaze stared at her for a moment feeling a smile come to his face, she had a very childish aura about her and that was charming to him. "So sweetie are you looking for someone or something?" He was good at handling lost children, it was something he picked up on during his years of-

And then he noticed her blushing "Sweetie? … oh, I get it, you think I'm a kid." She pouted and crossed her arms "I'm 16 I'll have you know."

Kaze "... I'm sorry what?"

She stuck her tongue out at him acting childish "Yeah I'm Kaoru Matsuhita and I'm16 you.. doo-doo head! And I'll have you know I'm an Ultimate too, so ha! Not bad for a child huh?... wait I mean not a child a woman, a full grown woman!"

KAORU MATSUHITA- ULTIMATE PERFUMER

Kaze just continued to stare at her in awe of what he just heard still not entirely believing her about that as he says "I am sorry but are you sure? I don't think it's ladylike to-"

Kaoru then stomped her foot down "Is this because I'm so small? Or because my woman parts haven't grown in?! I'll have you know they'll come in… someday." She looked down at her chest which was as flat as freshly rolled dough "... fingers crossed."

Kaze held his hand up defensively "Ok I believe you, what are you doing in here anyway?"

Kaoru looked at the beakers and then shyly started stroking her ponytail "Oh that, well I was trying to find some new materials for my latest perfume "Forgetful Lilac." It's a perfume so strong it can trigger a sensory reaction that can actually trigger memory loss. I'm hoping maybe when we solve this we can all use it to forget about the trauma." She then held up a little spritz bottle "Wanna try it?"

Kaze looked at her his eyes going wide "I don't think-" He got cut off again as she then pushed down on a nozzle spritzing him in the face and it made his eyes well up and he coughed loudly swiping at the air in front of his face "It smells like Lilac and tuna!"

She clapped her hands loudly "Yay! That means it's working!"

In a moment Kaze stared at her blinking for a couple seconds "... I'm sorry for disturbing you little girl but do you know why I'm in the hospital?"

She pouted again and crossed her arms like a child "I'm not a little girl! I'm 16! I'm Kaoru Matsuhita!"

KAORU MATSUHITA- ULTIMATE PERFUMER!

Kaoru then gasped "Ah it worked! Thanks big guy!" She walked forward and embraced him into a hug making the Inquisitor question exactly what was going on

Kaze gently moved her back "Uh yes thank you, anyway regardless I need to find the other Ultimates, if any of them are alive I need to locate them and of course find out what happened,"

Kaoru smiled and pointed upstairs "Well I heard some guy rambling to himself up there, might want to check in on him."

Kaze tipped his hat "Thanks a lot little lady, you've been a big help." He turned and left the room as Kaoru stuck her tongue out as he left.

Kaze walked down the hallway beginning to climb up the stairs to the next floor, ignoring the cry of "16!" coming from the room. As he climbed up he did hear what she had been saying, the echoes of a man saying some things to himself, likely loving to hear the sounds of his own voice. He turned the corner and what he saw utterly appalled him.

Like Kaoru said there was a man, standing at about 5 ft 10, his bright orange hair slicked back to give him a very sharp look, his black eyes staring at a stretcher. He was very slim and lean, no muscles apparent on his body, he looked almost twig like in physical presence and yet he carried himself with such charisma and confidence he looked enigmatic. He had a long-sleeved white shirt on with a purple vest worn over top of it, in between those two clothing articles was a purple tie. He also wore long khaki pants with a black belt and black boots, a khaki flat cap worn to complete his ensemble. "Oh Jinpachi! He was my rock! My everything! When the river swept us away as children I never could have imagined we would end up on opposite sides of Tokyo, marrying twin idols and riding away on our motorcycles together. Jin! Why did you have to go steady into that good night?!" He leaned back and yelled at the ceiling "WHHHHYYYYYYYYYY?!" But that wasn't what appalled Kaze, it was that on the stretcher he was directing his dialogue to, was a human corpse, like it was a prop to him. Kaze without saying a word ran up to him and just full on shoved him down to the ground.

"Stay where you are, don't move!" He asserted himself as he looked down at the orange haired man "What the hell do you think you are doing?!"

The man then let out a laugh of pure bliss "Oh my good sir I believe you are mistaken, check the stretcher again if you please." Kaze looked back at the stretcher for a moment and noticed it actually was a prop, one of those fake cadavers that medical professors showed to students in order to let them practice CPR or identify crucial body parts. Kaze stared at it and then his eyes softened… he should have noticed that? How long had he been asleep? Had his senses gone dull or…? He didn't have time for that. "I'm sorry, I must be a bit on edge since the accident outside, you must understand it's been a long day and I just woke up."

The man chuckles again putting his hand to his mouth, his orange hair getting messed up in the altercation. "Oh no I understand completely, it was more amusing than anything. I can understand, nerves get the better of us all." He got up and walked to a nearby medical tray noticing some hand sanitizer. He rubbed his hands together until the hand sanitizer was rubbed in but his hands were still wet, using the remnants to slick his hair back up regaining his look and his composure. "I can see how that got under your skin."

Kaze looked at him oddly, he certainly was a strangely optimistic fellow. "What were you doing just now anyway?"

The man walked forward for a moment seeming like he was ignoring his question and looking up at his hat "My my this got disorganized in the scuffle, let me just." He leaned up and began to adjust Kaze's hat for him with a smile "I was simply reciting one of the most heartfelt passages from my award winning movie "Slow and Steady: Tokyo Adrift!" He pronounced that with such vigor the movie seemed so very grand.

Kaze looked at him oddly and almost disturbed feeling him touch his personal property. "Oh that movie must be important to you."

He nodded with a wider smile almost reaching Cheshire levels. "I should, it was my first ever multi-award winning film." He then retreated back and gave a slow bow, rolling his hands back theatrically as he did so "There you are my good man, your appearance is as dapper as you first arrived."

Kaze looked up and noticed that yes, his hat was straightened again but he still wasn't super comfortable. He then turned his attention back to the man and said "I see thank you… I suppose you wouldn't know about any of the things goin on around here would you."

He put his hand to his chest dramatically his mouth gaping open "Heavens no why would I? Don't tell me you suspect me Inquisitor?"

Kaze's eyebrow raised questioningly "Inquisitor? So you are from here in the city?"

His eyes got an excited glint in them "Yes I am, so great to see the protagonist of this fair city with my own eyes. Well I shouldn't keep you, I am sure you have other damsels to save and other side characters to meet, and a little tidbit, I am the only other person in here aside from the child. Though rest assured, we shall meet again. I shall show myself the exit off stage left." He turned to walk away himself going down the hallway presumably towards a different exit.

Kaze yelled down the hall "Wait!" The man turned back "I never got your name, you clearly know mine so it's only fair."

The man turns back to the hallway and continued to walk "Until next time Inquisitor. Please remember me, Daichi Souma, if it's not too inconvenient."

DAICHI SOUMA- ULTIMATE DIRECTOR

And with that he disappeared down the hallway and he was gone. For some reason Kaze believed he could trust him at his word. He turned to make his own exit from the hospital, and after waving a formal goodbye to Kaoru, went outside to continue down the street. Upon seeing that the rest of the utilities were gone, he turned the corner and walked down the street and then saw it, a restaurant. No not a restaurant, THE restaurant in the community. "The Melting Pot" a tribute to all different cuisines across the world including the one that the Ultimate City had lost. He remembered a time that people would line up to come to this restaurant, this being where people went in order to dine and would never prefer to eat in when they could go here. Like he has been thinking this whole time, it was a more peaceful time. With that, he walked towards the restaurant and then he noticed it… it was sitting directly on top of the restaurant where a big iconic pot sat on top and it was resting inside of it…

Was a giant missile… no seriously a giant missile just sitting there in the pot like it was normal. Kaze's eyes widened as he ran into the restaurant, thoughts running through his mind as he quickly made for the back of the restaurant to climb up the stairs, hurrying up to see what this was all about. He saw the entrance to the roof and just quickly rammed it open as his body acted before his mind running over to the missile. It was black, with a bright yellow biohazard symbol on it. It was nuclear but it didn't seem like it went off, so this clearly wasn't was caused this devastation especially since it was still you know, intact. So along with his initial question of "what caused this?" He also had to wonder what the purpose of this missile was. Though he was cautious, he didn't pick it up or attempt to touch it he just let it lie there, with his better judgement intact he didn't try to do anything and just walked back downstairs. Add that to the already massive pile of concerns and you had yourselves a nervous wreck named Kaze but it never reached his stoic face. He opened up the door from the back heading into the restaurant area and then heard a faint rustling from behind the bar, to which he walked towards it, probably nothing the rustling sounded to come from a small source so-

"RAAAWWWWRRR!" Suddenly jumping on the bar was a creature in an Oni mask, its jagged teeth and pointy Devil horns on its helm pointing up and making the creature stick out and then it spoke its voice sounding as demented as its appearance "Mortal I will dine upon your flesh and tear the vocal cords from your body so you cannot scream in terror! MWAHAHAHA!"

….

WHAM!

Kaze smacked the creature straight in the chest sending it flying back past the counter through an open slot leading back into the kitchen, the sounds of pots and pans crashing in the background. He noticed the creatures face lying on the floor, or rather its mask. Kaze walked to the door and went back into the kitchen seeing against the wall was this small looking guy, 5 ft at most, his hair the color of cotton candy that went down around his ears and eyes. He looked very skinny and pale, like he wasn't very strong or outdoorsy almost like a stick figure. He wore a dark brown hoodie over a black t-shirt with a green fire-breathing dragon on it. He also wore gray plaid shorts and brown shoes with black laces and had long white socks that went up his legs. The kid looked up at him and rubbed his head tossing the pots off of him "What the heck?! You hit me!"

Kaze crossed his arms nodding his head "That's correct, you scared me."

He got up pouting his lower lip sticking out "Yeah but you didn't need to hit me.. it was just a little joke."

Kaze did feel slightly bad but honestly not that much so "Read the room, something horrible had happened here, you shouldn't go around scaring people making the situation worse."

The kid looks up at him and then… he started to sniffle tears welling up in his eyes. "I know, I was trying to have fun and cope but you hit me! And it hurt! Both my feelings and my torso! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The kid started to sob his legs flailing out his voice becoming much more high pitched than he originally was.

That took Kaze completely off guard his face falling as he sighed watching the kid flail about "Listen I'm… I'm sorry I hit you ok? Calm down and we'll uh…" he rubs the back of his head, he wasn't really good at dealing with crying children.

He rubs his eyes and looks up as they got slightly puffy and his hair was messier than usual "Maybe, maybe you can get me a toy or a feel better milkshake?"

Kaze had his eyes narrow slightly "Now hold on a sec-"

"YOU HIT ME!" He looked like he was about to start wailing again before Kaze quickly agreed to the compromise "Ok ok give me like an hour to look around and I'll get you something."

He then pops up onto all fours looking up at him with a toothy grin "Oh yay! Thanks mister! Kyojin thinks we can get along now!"

Kaze "I'm sorry, Kyojin?"

He looked up from his position, his head tilting to the side "Kyojin, that is me, Kyojin Otishidan, movie monster. RAWWR!"

KYOJIN OTOSHIDAN- ULTIMATE CREATURE ACTOR

The kid named Kyojin then turned on his heels "Kyojin will go back to house now, come get me when ready!" His third person dialogue seemed to dissipate when he felt like it, like that was a game to him as he took off running on all fours. Kaze watched him take off and pressed his finger against his forehead in annoyance, he certainly was remembering how strange these ultimates could be. Seeing that there was nothing left here to really go over he left the restaurant, taking a moment to look back at the missile before continuing his venture through the area.

Before long he found himself at a wall of rubble from a crashed building, completely segregating off any further progress. He could no longer continue down this street so he knew one thing for sure. Until further notice, the next area was blocked off, they were stuck in this small area. This street connected Community A to a Community B, Community C, so on and so forth. There were six areas in total, some larger, some smaller. But for now there was no need to worry about going forward, now it was about seeing what was here. He turned and started to go left now, walking down another pathway. Quickly along this pathway he found himself a small bin attached to a telephone poll, and inside of it was a set of maps for people who were unfamiliar with the accommodations and where they were. He opened one up and fully saw the layout of the area. Two roads going left, with buildings lined side to side on each of them, all of them having a purpose or a reason to be there whether it be business centers or hospitals, they were all important. About three-quarters of those buildings were now destroyed, so he started crossing off the buildings that had fallen as they went. The two roads to the left connected to the road he was currently on, and upon going back led to the residential area, and upon going forward they were met with an arrow pinpointing the entrance to Community B. He crossed off the arrow for now. The two roads to the left culminated at a park and in a big red circle was the honor and pride of the Ultimate City, the Jin Kirigiri Memorial Statue. Kaze smiled and made a mental note to visit that after his search. He took the farthest road to the left first and went down, marking off buildings until he reached a building with a dumbbell on top of it, the Ultimate Gym, a place where those sportier Ultimates would go to keep themselves in shape. Kaze smiled a bit, this was a place he would go himself so he was happy it was still standing.

Kaze entered the gym and saw the familiar equipment, treadmills, elliptical machines, dumbbells, exercise bikes, medicine balls, yoga mats, chin-up bars, the gym was decked out with all the equipment one needed to keep up their daily regimen whatever it may be. Kaze smiled to himself in a nostalgic way and then he noticed them, I mean it was harder not to honestly.

"Come on give me 10 more, believe in yourself." Standing up over one of the exercise benches was a very tan woman whose skin was almost red in color, standing at a little over 5 ft 8, and she had very clear muscles and wide shoulders that showed straight through her light gray top and black jacket with short sleeves, a little green border sneaking along the edges. Over her toned legs was long black pants and a pair of black sneakers on her feet. Her face was very oval-shaped with a pointed chin and bright green eyes. She moved over to the side, her short, straight black hair moving slightly to the side and revealed a man on the bench trying to lift up a set of weights on an iron bar… with his legs.

"I… I don't know if I can do it! But I think I can! I have to!" The man with great endurance lifted up his legs and the giant weights on them through the struggle, lifting them high above his head and cheering for himself as he kept going, the weights looking like they were at least 150lbs a piece on both sides, and considering his appearance Kaze would not have thought he was capable of that. He looked to be decently sized though Kaze's trained eyeballs could spot him at about 5 ft 7 so slightly shorter than the woman. His hair was silvery and messy, sweeping in different directions except for a cowlick that went down the center, and his bangs dipped back down under his chin and were decorated with little yellow bells. He looked up at her with honey yellow eyes, though they appeared to have dark circles imprinted underneath them. His outfit consisted of an exposed pink leotard that had long sleeves with flowery laces on the ends of them that reached down to around his knuckles, his leotard having four puffy pink fur balls planted in the middle. He also wore waist high stockings that were striped pink on his right side and gray on his left, his shoes being very dark gray. He then looked over spotting Kaze and smiled, and Kaze noticed two pink French diamonds painted under his eyes, a smaller one painted under his bottom lip. "Ah, it appears we have ourselves a visitor miss. Kaori."

The woman referred to as Kaori turned her hand raising to wave at him. A short and stark "hello" escaped her lips for her greeting to him, while the more feminine looking man got up and placed the weight bar back into position above him, getting up with a smile and greeting him in a much friendlier manner. "So, what brings you here mister? I can't say we've met."

Kaze gave a half smile at the friendly words "Oh well you can see that the world outside has kind of been turned upside down, I am simply looking for any survivors that I can find. I am Kaze Kain, nice to meet you."

And then he saw the features of the male light up "Kaze Kain?!" He then seemed to duck behind Kaori a bit, like he was getting camera shy "I-It's like meeting a celebrity, Kaze Kain, the Ultimate Inquisitor… it's r-really you!"

Kaori's eyes seemed to change from distance and wariness to a sort of respectful glint aimed directly at him. "So, you are strong and protect people, like me."

The Inquisitor had a sideways smile on his face. On one hand this was nice, everybody looking up to him like the protector he strove to be making sure the Ultimate City prospered. On the other hand he didn't want them getting unrealistic expectations, he wasn't a superhero and he wasn't a particularly nice man to disturb. "Yes I suppose you could say that."

The guy smiles and slowly creeps out from behind Kaoru "It's an honor to be in your presence Mr. Kane, I've worked very hard to get to this point of being an Ultimate and j-just being in the same room as you is unbelievable."

Kaori looked behind her and then moved to the side making him stand out on his own "Don't hide, talk to him with confidence."

He let out a nervous chuckle and then slowly shuffled towards Kaze his eyes downcast towards his feet. "Well it is nice to finally meet you Inquisitor." He looked up at Kaze and then a smile found itself onto his face. "I'm Noboru Takahashi, Ultimate Tightrope Walker! You can count on me to help you out sir!"

NOBORU TAKAHASHI- ULTIMATE TIGHTROPE WALKER

Kaze gave him a reassuring smile and held out his hand "I'm sure you will, let's shake on it then."

Noboru beamed a bit seeing the acceptance firsthand and then eagerly shook Kaze's enthusiastically feeling like he gained himself a big friend. Kaori walked forward her eyes fearlessly locking with his.

"... Kaori Moriya, Ultimate Bodyguard, pleasure."

KAORI MORIYA-ULTIMATE BODYGUARD

Kaori then took Kaze's hand after Noboru and shook it. Kaze could feel the strength in her hand, it being very similar to his own in physical standards despite the mass difference between their bodies and the gender difference, but Kaze didn't see that as a problem.

Noboru seemed to ease up a bit and engaged conversation with him "So, Inquisitor this is Community A right? I can tell from the restaurant down the road."

Kaze nods in response "Yes it is Noboru."

Noboru sighs a bit looking out the window "It is a shame, I hear that my sisters did wonderful work making this community what it is today."

Before Kaze could ask Kaori responded simply asking "Sisters?"

Noboru smiled instantly feeling a rosy blush come to his cheeks from happiness "Yes my sisters, Eiko and Toshi. I remember them being placed into Community A and living in a joint house."

That did ring a bell to Kaze. Eiko and Toshi were the two people put in charge of mapping the city out and deciding where all the commodities would go. Eiko was good at making sure that everything was designed well and looked visually appealing, while Toshi was involved in helping to place the buildings into their specific places. Together they really helped to design the Ultimate City and make it what it was today. Some say the Ultimate City wouldn't look nearly as good as it does without them… well as good as it once did.

Kaze looks at him and then walks over giving him a reassuring pat on the back "I am sure we will find them, after all I am sure we are not the only survivors, others have survived this blast and they are waiting in the residential area, I bet they survived as well." As far as Kaze was concerned what happened to the Ultimate City was horrible, devastating to the city and to him personally, but there were no confirmed casualties yet, no dead bodies littering the street, no nothing. For chaos, this was surprisingly organized.

That seemed to brighten Noboru's mood as he jumped up the bells in his hair clanging loudly as he did and he seemed to enjoy their melody "Thank you Kaze! I shall go join them right away! Maybe I can help by climbing up and seeing if I can see into the other areas!" He excitedly pitched the idea and then set out to make it so, quickly hurrying out of the gym leaving just him and Kaori there.

They stood there in silence, the two powerful individuals looking at each other with a sign of respect in their eyes. It was Kaori who spoke first and said "I should head there as well."

Kaze nodded a bit, he could feel her passion for her duties as a bodyguard without even talking to her that much "I understand." He made no move to stop her, they could talk later once he ensured the safety of all the known survivors.

Kaori walked past him though stopped for a moment "... If you falter, I will catch you."

Kaze raised an eyebrow at her and turned his head to face in her direction "Excuse me?"

Kaori spoke clearly as she said "A man in your role is bound to feel the pressure of all the expectations piling on top of him. You will make friends, enemies, acquaintances, and leeches. If you falter… I will catch you."And with that she left the gym, letting that ominous message sink into his core so hard he shuddered. He decided to leave the gym himself. Kaze exited the gym and saw that almost directly across the street was a person, staring into the gym not saying a word, though a smile was imprinted on their face.

It was a man, he was relatively small though standing at 5 ft 4. He had a yellow t-shirt on with white stripes that only went halfway across, blue jeans, brown boots with white socks stuffed in them, and a brown hoodie. Though upon closer inspection that was only half the story. His jeans looked like they had been badly charred, scorch marks imprinted onto the leggings of them. And his hoodie looked like it had just been a part of a fight with two feral cats, for it was torn everywhere, the zipper was busted, the parts covering his forearms were so nonexistent that he just rolled them up to his elbows, and half of his hood was missing. He had damaged knee pads, which covered up minor signs of bleeding on his left shin, and his right hand was bandaged up. He had a pouch hanging from his black belt on the right side that looked dirty and dusty, just like his face. As Kaze inspected him he saw that his face was grimy and disgusting, and his shoulder-length brown hair was messy and unkempt, his bright blue eyes still maintaining some life in them but for how long? Kaze couldn't help but frown as he approached him, the need to protect the denizens of this place overwhelming his core right now. "Sir are you ok?"

The man looked over and a smile came onto his face "Oh hello there, how are you doing?" His voice was quiet, almost desolate but with a hopeful inflection, like he wanted to sound happy but his body was fighting against it, the kid looked like he'd been through hell.

Kaze was taken aback by his almost nonchalant response to his question that he didn't even answer "I asked if you were alright?!" He asked again, this time much more clearly and with more volume.

He kept his smile up answering "Yes, why do you ask? Do I look sullen?"

Kaze crossed his arms genuinely wondering if something was wrong with him "No but you look like you've been through a tornado, that's why I ask."

"Oh that.. That's just my face, and my clothes. All my clothes are like this." He sounded almost bashful but his face or inflection barely changed, like his body was actively fighting against showing these emotions to him. Kaze couldn't help but wonder if this boy was lost.

He said this directly to his face "... Sir are you actually an Ultimate?"

As if repeating himself the boy said "Yes, why do you ask?"

Kaze got slightly irritated and said "Because you look like a hobo."

He looked up at the sky smiling "Yes well I can assure you I am an Ultimate."

Kaze stares back at him and asked him upfront "Then who are you? What is your talent?"

He responded in a happy tone though it was downplayed again "Shino Tamari, and I can't say… light post."

Kaze "What?" Was all he could get out before a light came off a post above his head and came smashing down onto Kaze's foot. The Inquisitor felt his eyes widen as pain shot through his entire body starting at his foot before going to his brain. He then couldn't help but roar out "SON OF A BIT-"

SHINO TAMARI- ULTIMATE ?

Kaze held his foot in pain as it seemed like the pain went on for ages. When he looked back up again Shino was holding an ice pack "From the restaurant, it's for y-" before anything else came out it felt like a light breeze knocked it out of his hand making that also fall onto his foot the ice spilling out of it instantly melting on the charred ground making it useless "... whoops."

Kaze looks up glaring knowing it wasn't really his fault but still he was in a lot of pain right now "What the hell?!"

Shino looked down his smile going sideways as he stared at the ground "... you shouldn't be around me then.. Though i get the feeling I'll see you around. Good luck, and keep finding people will you? I mean… you already found nine right?"

Kaze then looked back down at his foot grumbling in pain "Yeah see y-" his eyes seemed to widen in realization. How did he know he'd found nine survivors? "Hey wait a…" he looked up and saw that Shino has gone...somewhere else but gone like the wind "... minute." He grumbled annoyed, now he was confused and in pain, the ultimate bad day combination. He lets out a sigh and continues on trying to ignore the pain with every step he takes. He tried to ignore the pain by returning to his thoughts, remembering when he examined each of these buildings personally with Yuki, involved himself in the planning with Eiko and Toshi, competed with Takeshi to get to crimes first (which he almost always won). These memories helped him but were also painful. Seeing these people again, and thinking about the people he isn't seeing.. Well that wasn't exactly helping his mind. He felt like he had failed..scratch that, he knows in his heart that he had failed. He reached the park on the other side of the street but before entering that area he doubled back to the first road ensuring that he didn't miss any buildings on the alternate pathway. Upon turning the corner he was immediately met with another standing building, the UCDP, Ultimate City Department of Power, or as the residents called it, the power plant (or that place that keeps our wifi intact). He quickly entered this area, looking to see if he would meet any other residents of the city here. And low and behold he was right, and he had no idea what he just walked into.

"How DARE you?! How could you rate Call to Warfare: Halos of Nazi Doom just another first person shooter with cookie cutter multiplayer?! It is AMAZING!"

"And I'm telling YOU little man that it's a trashy game that gets 12 year olds to scream at each other and suck each other's orifices, it prays on the lowest common denominator."

"If it's the lowest common denominator why is it consistently one of the most successful franchises in the industry?! HUH?! Riddle me that cam girl!"

Kaze had no idea that he just walked into this, and yes, this was a man who had never held a controller in his life. He saw that the girl was getting a bit red in the face, both from anger and embarrassment. She had long, blonde hair that went down her objectively curvy body with very slim limbs. Kaze could only see he hint in her cheeks though since the rest of her face was cut off by a straw hat. She wore a small pale blue summer dress with some dangling earrings to accessorize, topped off with a little bag she carried by her side. "Well mister negative, if you truly watched my reviews you'd know I'm not a cam girl, in fact I've never shown my face on camera."

The one having an argument with her was a guy and he blew the hair out of his face with a smirk. "Yeah because I bet you got a donkey face." He had a heart shaped face with garnet colored eyes, that seemed to stick out due to his very pale skin, a bandage adorned on his left cheek. He was very small and thin, standing at about 4 ft 10, and had brown hair that went down to his neck, a strand of it sticking straight up in the middle. He wore a big and admittedly cute turtleneck sweater and dark blue Capri pants going down to white ankle-length boots. He had a yellow backpack designed in the shape of a hamster and sticking out of his pocket was the new DoubleDS, or DDS for short (A/N I apologize for the horrible knock off name, but it makes me laugh, so I'm keeping it.) The kid honestly looked way too adorable to be talking this way and yet here he was.

Kaze tried to insert himself into the conversation as he raised a finger up "Ummm, hello the-"

"Donkey face?!" She said incredulously as she walked towards him "I'll have you know I'm considered quite pretty."

The boyish kid smirks again "Yeah sure, they put up with your face, lie to you, so that they can get to the milk jugs underneath." His voice got super high pitched almost melodiously so "Oh you're so cute, now show us your tits bitch!"

She gasped in utter shock at his words "Well at least I'm not still living in my mom's basement!"

"HA! Shows what you know! I live in the attic!"

Kaze for once in his life did not know how to approach this, he just walked forward and said "Hello." He was hoping that it would work this time.

The female turns to look at him for a moment, a smile coming for a second "Hello there, how are you?"

The boy turns as well and just curtly growls out "Yeah hi" before immediately turning back to her. "I bet you're the type of person who only plays visual novels because then you get a bunch of husbandos that you can only dream of manhandling that cow body of yours!"

She turns back incredibly offended "NO! I enjoy game of all genres! You clearly don't watch my vlogs you vulgar, evil little boy. It isn't my fault your mother didn't hug you enough and you take it out on the world."

The kid barked back at her, his fists flailing in the air "You take that back you two dollar hooker!"

Kaze just felt incredibly out of place. Was this why people used the internet? … He hated it. "Ummm, could I get your names and maybe your talents?"

The girl turned and said in a pleasant tone "Haruna Aiki, Ultimate Online Reviewer." She turned back to him and said eloquently. "Two dollars? Like how much your parents spent on your education?"

HARUNA AIKI- ULTIMATE ONLINE REVIEWER!

The boy says to Kaze "Orochi Sakamoto, Ultimate Game Designer." And then blurted out " Hey screw you! Oh wait, you'd like that and I don't like hearing bitches moan out my name!"

OROCHI SAKAMOTO- ULTIMATE GAME DESIGNER!

Kaze now that he had them down made sure to make a mental note of that "Um yes… well once you are done here would you mind coming to the residential area? All the other survivors are meeting there."

She turned her nose up at Orochi "But of course, I simply wanted to check to see if we still had any power, and this little boy has clearly got some issues he needs resolved."

Orochi glared at Haruna "Yeah, right after I tell this ratchet skank how much she loves to just state unpopular opinions to get attention, because she has nothing interesting to say and nothing good enough to show!"

Kaze knew he just wanted to leave so he turned to get out of the Power Plant

"You little beast, I bet you enjoy Titans of Strife and think Percius is a good character."

"He is! And that game rocks!"

"It is barbaric, the females are simply eye candy, the combat is outstanding but it's just there so you won't focus on how awful the protagonist is."

"PERCIUS IS A BADASS MOTHERFUCKER AND YOU KNOW IT!"

"He is a sexist, vulgar brute and I know that's why you love him, that's who you want to be!"

"He rips the HEADS off of TITANS! Your argument is INVALID!"

And Kaze was out of the Power Plant, and if he had his way, he was never going back in there again… ever. As he shuffled back down the road he noticed a store, well again not astore, THE store. Ultimart, the Ultimate City's personal superstore, it offered everything from clothes, to food items, to household appliances, electronics, the works it was all here. He walked towards the doors and saw that the automatic mechanisms in the door weren't working so he had to pry open the doors himself. Kaze went through the doors and they clamped shut behind him, letting him see the store completely for himself. Inside he saw the lights overhead shine down upon the store, so basic power did seem to be working though maybe at a reduced rate since things like wifi and the automatic doors seem to not be working properly. There were aisles upon aisles of items, it stretched along the building making use of every single atom of space. Kaze walked along the tiled floors, hearing the clack of his boots along them as he looked across the aisles, seeing the clearance tags on toys and electronics that would never be purchased. As he walked past the items he began to take note of the layout of the store. The food aisle was first, seemed simple enough, people would come in to buy their basic needs to maintain themselves so why not put them first? He decided instead of memorizing i all he went down the aisles until he reached school supplies and grabbed a notebook and a pack of pens. He started to scribble down the layout of the store to himself.

Front- Registers, magazines, candy

Aisle 1- Food items, perishables

Aisle 2- Toiletries, cosmetics

Aisle 3- Electronics

Aisle 4- Toys

Aisle 5- Women's Clothing

Aisle 6-Men's Clothing

Aisle 7- Appliances, furniture

Aisle 8- School supplies, writing utensils

Aisle 9- Gardening, lawn care

Back of Store- Cafe, refrigerated goods

Kaze wrote down everything in the store that he himself could see, making sure to mark down all the aisles, you never know when this information could come in handy. Kaze then heard the sound of the automatic doors slamming shut… somebody else was in the store. He tried his best to stay calm but he still went to check it out, he wasn't about to let someone have free reign over anything in the Ultimate City. He heard the sounds of somebody else's boots hitting the tiles and take a left down aisle heard the sound of a female voice say "My my they have quite the selection don't they?" Kaze quickly peeked his head around the corner and saw her for himself.

She was very average sized, likely around 5 ft 5 if he could place her, her skin the tone of light-olive so she was tan. She had a long face with thin lips and dark eyebrows, he eyes blue and staring at this black laced corset with interest. She was wearing cargo pocketed pants and a pair of work boots although they looked more stylized and gaudy than anything used for a job, for most work boots didn't have vintage leather. She also adorned a vest waistcoat with the long sleeved button up collared shirt being dark red, whilst the waistcoat was black. She had an elegant gothic top hat on top of her head, with silk braiding and black and white feathers on the sides of it, handmade rear buttons and silk tails, and to top it all off she had fingerless gloves on, her entire style looking very gothic. She turned to her right and he noticed her hair leaking out of her top hat, it was red, and it was in a single streak going down to her shoulders. "Oh my, I thought all survivors were gathered in the housing area? What are you doing out here?"

Kaze showed his respect to the elegant looking woman by bowing down and removing his hat. "Ma'am, I am simply making sure there are other survivors around, and if there are I'm to shepherd them back to their residences."

She put her hand to her mouth like she was suppressing a chuckle "My you are incredibly diligent no?" She extends her delicate hand out for him "Well I assure you I am fine, I already checked in with the others and well, now you could say I am shopping, helping myself to whatever I think looks cute or could help my shows."

Kaze seemed a bit perturbed by this, he didn't like the idea of someone practically looting Ultimart "I'm sorry ma'am but we shouldn't do that." He asserted that statement to her.

She gave him a very elegant smile "Oh? And why shouldn't I? I would pay for the items if currency was still necessary but it isn't. If I can find use for these items, should we just let them sit here?"

Kaze didn't have an honest answer to that but he replied with "Humor me, at least leave them alone for now."

She frowned at him but then let a shrug come to her shoulders "Ah well, c'est la vie. Your orders are orders Mr. Inquisitor."

Kaze let an annoyed frown come to his face, it was nice to be recognized but it just seemed to become apparent to him how many people knew him and how little he seemed to know everyone else. "I apologize have we met before?" He finally took his strong hand into hers shaking her extended gloved hand

She lets out a little giggle, her red streak going over her right eye "Oh Inquisitor don't tell me you forgot my show? I'd be offended if it wasn't so cute. 1 month ago, Kirigiri Park? Marionette Madness?"

Kaze then had a small smile come back to his fae "Ah, Miss. Kerria Than, I apologize my mind has not been in the right place."

Kerria smiles back to him "Ah there it is, pleasure to meet you once again Kaze Kain."

KERRIA THAN- ULTIMATE PUPPETEER

Kerria Than was one of the finest performers Kaze had ever had the chance to see, the show she put on in the park with her puppets in Community A had al the life of a real stage play played by humans, it was no wonder she was the Ultimate in this field. It is a pleasure to see you alive and well Miss. Than."

An elegant smile continued to grace her thin lips "Oh Inquisitor, please call me Kerria." She gently took her hand back and turned to face the front of the store. Alright, just for you I shall return to my abode, but hopefully later I can change your mind." She smile and starts to walk away, her steps graceful and her hips having the smallest sway to them "Until next time Kaze."

Kaze watched her leave "Yes, until next time Kerria." That was nice, it was so relieving to have a nice talk after all the weird people he has met over the past hour of searching. He went to place his hat back atop of his head when he realized… he didn't have it anymore. He looked around the immediate area but it was gone, like it just vanished. He felt his blood boil, that was his hallmark, his icon, the symbol that showed he was an inquisitor, where could it have gone? He swore he was just holding it and now it had just vanished.

"Come and geeeeet iiiiiiit." He heard a voice taunt from up hi. He looked up and saw a shadow move across the rafters, they were very high up so it was hard to see but they were up there, only an expert could have made it up that high and yet he knew what he saw. The shadow darted towards the door, dashing across the rafters as Kaze sprinted after it. The shadow seemed to disappear and then…

CRASH!

He heard a noise as something fell. Kaze had just past the aisle and then doubled back to aisle 4 where he saw this guy. He looked like something straight out an anime, his hair spiky and black with a single red stripe through the center, his eyes bright and violet in color. He was very lanky, standing at around 5 ft 9, his skin quite tan and a tattoo ran down his right arm but it looked slightly off. Was… was that a temporary tattoo? He had a black uniform overtop his shoulders but had neither of his arms through the sleeves, and underneath that he had a red sleeveless shirt with a pattern of yellow stars that wrap around the middle. He also wore a chain around his neck that was attached to a card-shaped charm with an engraving on it that said "Satoshi" on it, it looked small but still carry something small inside of it. His wrists were covered in accessories, with leather wristbands that looked like there was a card sticking out of it, as well as some bracelets and plenty of rings adorning his knuckles, hs right hand having a fingerless glove on it that you could see his black painted nails through. His pants were form fitting, with a belt attached to his thigh, and his shoes were plain red tennis shoes.

Kaze saw the man ad growls out "Hey! What are you doing knocking stuff over?! Are you the one who has my hat?!"

The man looks around and then points to himself "Oh… oh ho ho are you referring to me?" He had his hands cross over his face and pulls out from his pouch two cards, entwining them in his fingers and holding them trying to look intimidating "I am simply on the search for the rare Ikutsuki Shiginara, from the universe of Shih-Na GO!"

Well, that relief he felt from normalcy instantly faded as he took a few intimidating steps towards him "I ask again, what are you doing in here?!"

The man then stared for a few moments before his pose changed again, dropping to one knee before he slammed his card down on the ground "HAH! Do not take one step closer or you will activate my trap card! And then you shall be sorry!"

Kaze's eyes narrowed, he has been through a lot of craziness and he was starting to get sick of dealing with it. He knew that the Ultimates could be different from normal people and yet some of these people just seemed too far out there to comprehend. "... trap card? What is a trap card?

The man put his hands onto his hips and gave a boastful laugh "HA! You aren't aware of the powers of the cards?! One wrong step and you could end up ensnared in their grasp! You could lose everyone you love in one quick portal sending all of you on a quick one way trip to the graveyard!"

Kaze felt like his eyes were starting to cross in confusion "You are making very little sense, speak English."

The man sighed and held up one of his cards "Do you see this?" There was a picture of an elf like creature with gears where his eyeballs should have been located and a mischievous grin on its face "This is a the untrained eye this is just a drawing printed on a card, to those who know its power it is a creature that could bring ruin upon the battlefield."

Kaze's head tilted as he looks at the card and the man holdingit "Is… is this some form of witchcraft?"

The man got next to Kaze and gently guided the card into his grip"You see my large friend, these cards, they are more than simply pieces of paper, they are extra dimensional creatures, with powers far beyond our comprehension, and yet to me at least when I call upon them in battle, they are my champions. These creatures do battle with each other because we command them to. They hold the line, and my strategy with how I lay my traps is how I keep them alive." He holds up a card with a red outline "My trap cards, and their power, together they form an unstoppable duo. This is the power of Satoshi Yugimoto! The champion of card collection!"

SATOSHI YUGIMOTO- ULTIMATE CARD COLLECTOR!

Kaze listened to his explanation for what he was doing and not only did he not understand it, he felt like he got no closer to finding his hat or even fully comprehending why there was a giant crash in the toy aisle. "... Ok uh Satoshi correct? Yes uh, s what were you doing in this aisle?"

Satoshi answered in a very matter of fact way "The Ikutski Shiginara, creature from the swamps of Neo Kyoto, archnemesis of my best summon!" He then pulls out a card with this white serpent like dragon imprinted on it, a crown and scepter next to her as her pink eyes looked like they were staring into Kaze's soul. "I must find him, so that I can quell his magic potential!... Plus he's the last card in the set that I need. I wasn't trying to make a mess just kinda happened, you know?"

Kaze "..." It was clear this wasn't the shadow that he was looking for "... right, so then I shall leave you to it, once you are ready please join the rest of us in the residential area."

Satoshi nods and gives him a little salute "I shall do that! And perhaps then I can train the new generation of monster gatherers the art and conduct of war!" He raised his hand triumphantly as Kaze just felt himself blinking and staring at him in utter silence. Without saying a word he turned around and looked back up at the rafters. He no longer saw the shadow but he did hear the doors clamp shut again, the context clues gathering in his mind. He quickly chased after the shadow and went to the automatic doors, prying them open once again and hurrying out and then was when he saw him, retreating up a fire escape climbing atop the power plant.

"Hey stop!" He saw the shadow as he climbed, the hat clearly in one of his hands. Kaze stood in the middle of the road, his cape flapping in the breeze as the shadow got atop of the power plant and looked back down at him, putting the hat atop his own head almost mockingly so. The man's height was a short 5 ft 5, his eyes green and his hair red,his face itself very forgettable except for a bandage on his face and a scar on his left cheek, but that probably helped in his line of work. He sat down on the edge of the rooftop allowing Kaze to see the rest of his outfit, a green jacket with a blue undershirt, red shorts with blue shoes that had a red web pattern on them. He looked very non-intimidating from this distance but he felt like there was an edge to this kid that he hadn't seen yet.

The kid smiled and held the hat out for him, dangling it above Kaze and his smile changed to a cocky smirk "This what you lookin' for bud?"

Kaze felt that familiar anger return as his composure was lost for a moment "Return my property to me you little twerp."

He put that hat back on his head and continued to smirk at him "Or what?"

Kaze's hands balled into fists "Or I will have to discipline you with all the power of the Ultimate City behind me."

The kid then turned so that he was lying on his back, his head dangling over the side of the power plant and he was now looking a him upside down, holding the hat above his head "Oh I'm sooooo scared. You know Inquisitor you'd be much more intimidating if you didn't try to throw in honor in every one of your statements."

Kaze growled in pure anger looking up at this kid "So not only do you disrespect me, but you disrespect the Ultimate City as well?"

The kid frowned himself looking down at him from his stance "Oh no I would never… well you now I wouldn't have before but it seems like our time in the Ultimate City has made us… complacent. We forget about the cool little things we all have in our everyday lives and take them for granted." He holds his hat out "Like the food we get to eat, or the cool clothes we wear. We're Ultimates, we just deserve these things don't we?"

Kaze somehow felt even angrier hearing this kid speak again "So not only do you insult me and everything I stand for by stealing from me, but now you mock the Ultimate City and the pwople inside of it yourself?"

He sighs moving his finger around in a circle around his own head "And he's not listening to me, oh well. I just wanted to try it on is all." He lets the hat drop down as it floated down, the wind carrying it almost perfectly so that it landed in Kaze's hand "Besides, I'm an Ultimate too ya know? Deku Inazuka, Ultimate Thief."

DEKU INAZUKA- ULTIMATE THIEF!

Kaze glares up at him as he put his hat back on his own head, adjusting it so it stood up straight like it always should. He looked like he was about to speak again before Deku cut him off "Before you give me a speech, just know you're the one who seems to believe in these Ultimates stronger than anyone. So if you scold me for what I did, you're telling me to go against my talent, and that's not what Ultimates do right?"

Kaze "..." Once again, e found himself at a loss for words, unable to refute that statement he just glared at him. Deku smirked as he sat up and then hopped back onto his feet. "Besides I should be going anyway. Though thanks for the fun Inquisitor, let's do this again sometime… ooooohhh maybe I'll snatch the cape next time." He rubbed his hands together as he thought "Mwehehe, thoughts for the future." And then he was off, skittering across the rooftops away from where Kaze could give was left to sit there and stew in his own anger, there it was again, people knowing who he was without being able to recognize them. As angry as he was his thoughts found themselves back to his old ways, was there really that much of a disconnect between the communities that he didn't even know these people existed? How many times had he helped the Ultimates of this city and then he didn't even know their names? He kept walking as he thought and before he knew it Kaze found himself at the end of the other road. That was it, these were the only buildings still standing. The other buildings were gone, demolished, almost like they were unnecessary, useless. Only a couple select buildings were still standing. As if vocalizing his thoughts he heard a voice next to him. "Eerie, isn't it?" Kaze jumped hearing this voice and then looked next to him.

She seemed to appear out of nowhere but now she was looking at him expectantly, with kind eyes. "I came out of my house from a long sleep, the reporter girl told me I should find you. Tomomi I think she said she was, she was nice… and cute." Her face then flushed "B-but don't tell her I said that!" She had black hair that went down her back and flowed flawlessly. Her body was very curvy, voluptuous even, and it was complimented by her beautiful pale skin. Her eyes were blue and almond shaped, although one of them was different, like her pupil was spiraling almost like it was daring you to look into it. She wore a black dress with a black leather miniskirt, and a dark red corset drawn tightly onto her body with elbow length lace. She had black silk stockings with garters on them, complimented with black stiletto high heels. She had a Ruby gem on a long gold chain that she wore around her waist that she wore almost like it was a belt. "I'm sorry if I'm a bit… open to read, I don't talk to many guys nowadays."

Luckily for Kaze he actually remembered her and recognized her "Ah wait I remember you… Tokaku Nishiyama correct?"

Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked somewhere between happy and surprised. "That's correct! Well that's great to hear that you know me… though I can't say that I recognize you sir."

TOKAKU NISHIYAMA- ULTIMATE HYPNOTIST!

That actually took Kaze aback, as several people have been able to identify him almost immediately and yet Tokaku was saying she didn't recognize him. He remembered her through his colleagues, Toshi and Eiko, for once they had problems they went to see this person who was renowned for being an amazing hypnotherapist, one of the best around. She could use her hypnotism to bewitch those around her and dig up issues the person didn't even remember about themselves, though nowadays she had taken up a practice of only accepting female clients, and her name was Tokaku Nishiyama. "Oh… well I must say that is actually a relief, I have been quite popular it seems."

Tokaku let out a small relaxed laugh, seeming to get a bit comfortable. "Yes well I must say I never had any trouble here, the Ultimate City was much more peaceful than my old neighborhood so I never had much need for an Inquisitor, hec I only eve remembered your name because Tomomi told me… NO OFFENSE!" She blurted that out quickly like she was trying to cover her bases.

Kaze smiles a bit actually feeling a chuckle escaping his lips "None taken, I actually consider that a compliment, if you aren't in trouble I am doing my job." In fact by that logic Kaze was wishing nobody knew his name.

Tokaku then lets out a sigh "I must admit this isn't exactly what I thought I was waking up to, I don't even remember much about what happened before I went to sleep. I was having a good day, went back to my house in Community… C I think, and then I woke up in Community A in a house I've never been in before, it had all my stuff in it and everything!"

Kaze frowned, he honestly hadn't thought about that. He woke up inside his own house but to those who woke up in a completely different house that must have been terrifying. "I a sorry to hear that."

Tokaku waved her hand dismissively "Eh, I'm scared but we have to try to stay positive right? I mean look on the bright side, like how many cute girls there are!" She said that so cheerfully and naturally Kae thinks she didn't even truly understand what she just said. Kaze couldn't help but chuckle and tussle her hair, like she was an old friend despite them being all but strangers.

She laughed and giggled "Hey stop that, cut it out!" She laughed and pulled away from him, her cheering him up a bit after the altercation with the thief. Perhaps this was the power of her hypnotism, her power of suggestion so strong she didn't even need to try in order to get other people to feel the way she did.

She put her arms behind her back and claped them together, a perky smile crossing her face. "Ahhh, that just made my day Kaze, I think we'll do just fine."

Kaze smiled back at her "I would tend to agree ma'am." Kaze turned around "All I have to do is check out the park for survivors and then we can all talk about our plan."

She looked back to the residential area and nodded her head in agreement "I'll head back then, and uh… thanks for the talk." She happily walked back up to the area. Kaze smiled as she left, Tokaku just having tha aura about her. Kaze then turned and headed back down the street he just came from until he reached the end looking at Kirigiri Park, and something completely unexpected awaited him there…

…. It was completely unchanged. The park was exactly as he remembered it. The five park benches that were spaced out equally throughout the park, the red wooden seesaw, the jungle gym for the younger ultimates, the merry go round, the yellow swirling slides, the small little pond on the left side of the park, the chrome swing set. They were all there, every single one of the and they didn't even looked scratched or bent, no damage in any way. And as Kaze had hoped, in the middle was the Jin Kirigiri statue, standing tall and proud. The former principal of Hope's Peak Academy pointing ahead to the future, the Hope's Peak crest adorned on his lapel. Kaze smiled and out of pure respect he saluted the statue, and i his heart he knew Jin Kirigiri would be proud of him. As he saluted he swore he could hear the most beautiful melody enter his ears, and for a moment it felt like he was nostalgically remembering it, but then he could hear where it was actually coming from an he turned to face it.

She was sitting there on one of the park benches, the one farthest to was in the upper left corner of the park, in her hands a violin and she played on it, her eyes closed like she was absorbing her very soul into it. She had clear moisturized skin and a very svelte physique that went into a set of curvy hips and an admittedly ample bust. She had long, curly mahogany hair that went down her back, and her face was outlined with some rosy cheeks. She was wearing a dark red sundress that was adorned with white and yellow flower designs near the bottom hem that would end near her knees. She had on glittery black stockings and red flat shoes with white ribbons on the front. Accessorizing herself were two identical pearl bracelets on her wrists that didn't cover up what looked like birthmarks shaped like a treble clef and a base clef on her right and left wrists respectively. She turned as she played, a melodious hum escaping her throat and it revealed a red and white striped bow that rested on the back of her head. Kaze without saying a word walked over, drawn in by her music and he sat down next to her on the bench, and for what seemed like an eternity he sat there with her just enjoying this peace and quiet, two strangers enjoying beautiful music together. Soon enough out of the corner of his eye he saw somebody else enter the park, and she seemed like she was also invested in the music, and began to dance around he outdoors equipment with a big smile gracing her face. In a moment Kaze finally broke the silence and looked over to her remarking "You're very good."

"It was at that moment the girl opened up her eyes and she didn't scream in surprise or yell at him for just sitting there, she looked up and smiled warmly like that was normal. "I am glad you think so? This place may be a bit dreary but I think any place can be cheered up with some beautiful music."

Kaze gives her a big smile, genuinely enjoying himself as she continued to play her violin. She looked at him with wide, pretty green eyes that were only made prettier by her glasses that were black with red arms. Kaze then took a deep breath and got up. "I will be right back, I would like to go see who our friend is first." He points over to the other girl, to which the violinist gave a nod and closed her eyes, a happy smile crossing her face.

As he approached the dancing girl he finally got himself a better look at her. She was of average height, around 5 ft 7, and she had very fair skin, her body very physically fit and well, very well endowed, and she had middle-length brown hair that was tied with a white bow, had green eyes and a blue flower sticker put onto her face. She also was wearing a beige princess vest with a butterfly symbol on it, and that was over a pink long-sleeved shirt with translucent sleeves, and covering her legs was a layered ballerina skirt with the layers being blue on the bottom, yellow in the middle, and pink on top, as well as white leggings and a pair of moccasin boots. He also didn't notice it at the time but as she was dancing it looked like she was also holding something in her hands. Kaze approached her with a smile intending to open the conversation very similarly to the violin player. "Well hello there, you are quite good with you dancing." As she turned she swung the instrument in her hand and before Kaze knew it-

His eyes felt like they were on fire "MY EYES!" He held his eyes in pain. First he wakes up to the Ultimate City like this, then short term-memory loss, gets a light post dropped on his foot, his hat stolen, and now this… it was not a good day. The girl made out a shrill cry running over to him "I am so so so so so so so so so so so so soooooorrrrrrrryyyyy!" A huge blush crossed her face as she tied to drag him over to the small pond which Kaze unceremoniously dunked his face into, trying to wash whatever that was out of his eyes. He pulled his head back out of the pond, his face and the top of his shirt now soaked and his black hair drooping over his eyes, his black hat now out in the middle of the pond lost to him again. "..."

The young lady "..." Her blush continued but she tried to force an awkward smile "T-thay say it comes out with water." He didn't notice it but during the commotion the violin player stopped playing her music and was slowly walking over.

Kaze faced her, his eyes covered by his hair but he was staring straight at her "... young lady, what did you hit me with?"

She looked away blushing as she then holds up a paint brush. "I swear it s-says it'll come out."

Kaze says in a very annoyed tone "... you hit me in the eyes with paint?"

She was about to respond again before the violin player spoke up again "The misunderstanding, the goofy hijinks, the fact that one of you got hurt…" she gasped loudly in realization "OH MY GOD YOU'RE IN LOVE!"

The dancer's hands came together as she let out a loud cry "Really?!"

Kaze "... come again?"

The violinist claps her hands together. "Oh I read about it all the time! Two strangers have a chance meeting, one tumbles into the other causing something inconvenient to happen, like knocking over their books, or in this case splashing them with paint. The person who caused it tries to help and then they hit it off, oh it's love at first sight like in all of my romance novels!"

The dancer's eyes absolutely lit up as well as her cheeks flushing red "Oh my goodness, you could be right! In a lot of my school drama mangas, the love interest and the protagonist fall for each other through clumsy coincidence."

Kaze was just trying to wrap his head around this "Wait… let's not forget she painted me."

The violinist waved her hand at him "Oh don't be such a baby she said it'll wash off. You have better things to think about, you're in love!"

Kaze "I am?"

The dancer then leaned in closer and gasped "Oh my gosh and you're the Ultimate Inquisitor! You're… you're even more handsome in person." Her cheeks lit up even more "Oh my, to think little Tsukasa Theilynn could marry the Inquisitor himself…"

Kaze "Wait excuse me, MARRY?!"

TSUKASA THAILYNN- ULTIMATE DANCE PAINTER!

Before he could go any further with his incredibly rational logic, the violinist clapped her hands "Oh my goodness this is so exciting, I got to see two people fall in love right before my very eyes! I am in heaven right now, you have to let be the musician at your wedding, here's my card." She handed him a small little business card that read "Kiaria Ongaku, Ultimate Violinist."

KIARIA ONGAKU- ULTIMATE VIOLINIST!

Kaze could only stare at the card dumbfounded and then be at the two young ladies

Kiaria looked to Tsukasa and giddily started to discuss this one sided relationship "Come come we have to start making plans for your wedding right away, oh I can just picture it now. Re piecing together the Ultimate City together, oh so romantic."

Tsukasa looked back to him and blew him a kiss, her cheeks all rosy and she was admittedly pretty but that didn't make this any less weird. "Oh my so young and a wedding, I would have never dreamed this… goodbye my love, until we meet again." And then the two women were off to discuss their plans for this wedding that only one party accepted. Thoughts raced through Kaze's head, one in particular shining through. "... what just happened?" He vocalized that like it would make it any easier to understand but surprise, surprise, it did no such thing. He was having fun, he was listening to music enjoying the company of strangers, now he was apparently getting married and had to go dive into the lake to get his hat back.

After Kaze reclaimed his hat he vaulted back out of the pond, his clothes now fully soaked and his mood completely squandered, for every up there was an immediate down. His thoughts were cut off however when he looked to the right end of the park and saw something he didn't remember… a set of stairs, leading downward into the earth itself. He looked at the stairs curiously, for Kaze never remembered that being in the park before. Was that recently built? It must have been because it wasn't marked on the map, to which he double checked to make sure and confirmed that it wasn't. This was an unknown variable, and he had to check it out. With those thoughts in tow he walked towards the staircase.

As he descended Kaze noticed the lights were dimming, there wasn't much lighting down here in the dark depths of wherever this staircase led him. He felt the cold floor beneath his feet and then stopped, hearing the echo of footsteps down there. He now started to step more cautiously into the darkness below, trying to identify the voices to ensure they were also friendly. He identified two more voices, one sounded female, the other male.

"Whoa, did you even know this was down here? Because I didn't, this is amazing!"

"I know right?! So many new discoveries to find."

He finally stepped off of the staircase and arrived at the bottom of the steps, walking onto the floor below trying to see what was down there. He noticed he was on an elevated platform, and saw that below him was a more rocky and hardened floor. After a moment he identified a silver object running across the surface, noticing that it continued even out of his field of vision… train tracks. It appeared he had arrived at some train station area, which was weird, the Ultimate City had never needed a train system. Why was this here? Did somebody build this? Was this built while they were all asleep? What was the purpose of this? He heard the voices come from the right side of the tracks, and for a subway station it was very empty. It didn't seem active, no sounds of trains or anything like that so was there a point to this station?

"Oh my I think I found something new! Something that could point to the people and civilization that used to live here!"

"Wait where? Let me see! Let me see!" He heard the two excited voices get closer and closer until he found them, and he found a small point in the subway station's favor… an old cargo car that would attached itself onto trains.

The first of the duo that he spotted was the female, her size being rather small only standing at around 5 ft 1 and her body being very lean and thin, her skin pale and her eyes were gray, round, and expressive. Her hair however was likely an indicator of the woman behind it because her hair was rainbow colored and tied into two Dutch braids that were then tied back into a messy bun at the bottom with a huge black bow placed into it. She wore black pants that went high up onto her waist, a yellow oversized cropped sweatshirt, and black ankle high high-heeled boots. She held up a mug with a kangaroo on it that red in big red letters "Hoppy Holidays!" "This could lead to a breakthrough in their communities. How they socialized, what their hobbies were, it's perfect!"

The male however seemed a lot less excited but still had an encouraging smile on his face "I uh don't believe… you know what it's a start." He was also decently short, standing at 5 ft 3, his face being rather angular and having a pale complexion on it, his eyes like hers being gray but a much lighter shade of it, his cheeks having high cheekbones and being absolutely coated in freckles. His haze colored hair was spread out behind his head and to his shoulders, completely covering the back of his head and spiking st the ends like a wild lions mane. He wore a red three quarter sleeve shirt with a fastened collar and white buttons, his shirt stained with a couple dust and dirt stains. To cover his legs he wore thick khaki colored knee length shorts and dark blue hiking boots. On his body he seemed to have plenty of accessories, such as a pair of binoculars around his neck, a green patterned bandana on his head, a small bracelet on his wrist made up of what looked like dinosaur teeth, an electronic device in both his ears, and a brown waterproof backpack across his back. His lips were curled back into a happy smile.

Kaze adjusted his hat and walked forward, tipping his hat to the woman "Ma'am" before placing it back on his head "And good sir, I am Inquisitor Kaze Kain…, and why are you in this unidentified area?"

The girl turned and gasped while it seemed like the male didn't humming to himself before he clutched his ear for a moment shuddering in discomfort and then turned. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't hear you approach," exclaimed the male.

The female however ran forward and took her hand into his shaking it wildly "Oh wow, the Ultimate Inquisitor Kaze Kain! It's so nice to meet you! My name is Takara UoshiandI'mtheUltimateMuesumCurator! We'rerealsorrywedidn'tknowthisareawasofflimitswe'llbemorecareful!"

Kaze "?..I'm sorry I didn't catch the whole thing?"

The boy rubs the back of his head a bit confused himself but he tried to elaborate "I'm sorry she gets a bit… excited from what I've known about her. I'm Wataru Hisakawa, Paleontologist, and she's Takara Uoshi, Museum Curator . We're pretty similar if you think about it so we both just came down here to see what we could find, we could leave if this is restricted?"

WATARU HISAKAWA- ULTIMATE PALEONTOLOGIST!

TAKARA UOSHI- ULTIMATE MUSEUM CURATOR!"

Kaze smiled a bit, the boy making a lot of that clearer to him "Thank you young man, Wataru was it?"

Wataru rubs the back of his head slightly embarrassed but calmly said "Oh I wouldn't expect you to remember me anyway but it's nice to meet you. There are so many Ultimates who came to this haven I probably just blended in."

Takara chimed in happily "Oh yeah, I bet he gets busy busy busy being a superhero and all!"

Kaze looked at them immediately feeling that pressure again "I'm sorry ma'am but I'm no superhero."

Takara "Buuut of course you are, you save people! You opened up this haven to us, you must be a superhero!"

Kaze was about to correct her, for he was not the person who made the Ultimate City but Wataru raised a hand "Ahaha, it's likely better to let her believe that, she can be quite insistent." He put his hand into his ear like he was adjusting something "Darn thing is so sensitive."

Kaze smiles at them and then says "Well until we confirm what this area is I would like to escort you back to the surface, we don't know if it's dangerous yet and we need to-"

DING DONG, DONG DING!

Coming onto the loudspeaker was this voice, it was like none Kaze had ever heard before and yet it sounded so familiar. "This is an announcement for the Ultimate City, from your Despairing Mayor. Please meet by the Kirigiri Statue in the park for a special report on what has been going on! That is all, see you soon!" And like that the loudspeaker cut off, the voice gone as soon as it came. The voice was squeaky, almost cartoonishly high pitched, like a voice no human could ever replicate. Kaze stared up into the darkness of the subway station not even being able to see the loudspeakers but he knew they were there, whoever did this and made this subway system clearly knew what they were doing.

Wataru however held his ears like there was some feedback loop error "OOOOWWW! That's loud!" He covered his ears and in a moment he seemed normal again "... so anyway, he said something about going back up to the park right?"

Takara nods and before they could stop her she took off, running very awkwardly in those heels "Lets go go go! Hurry up slowpokes!" She left Kaze and Wataru in the dusk, Kaze taking a moment to think what this could mean.

Wataru "... so should we head up?"

Kaze turned and replied simply "We don't have a choice." They walked back across the railway, after about 10 minutes of walking back going up the stairs again. As they ascended Kaze knew he was about to find something out, but what? What would he find out? Was it the truth? The truth of the Ultimate City? If it was he could finally get some answers, and then after that he could finally start to lead them down the road to hope. But Kaze didn't know at the time that the road to hope was a long ways away, the road ahead of him was actually filled with nothing…

…. but utter despair.


	4. The despair filled meetings of strangers

**Hey everyone I am sorry if this took some time to get to. But welcome to the continuation of the Lost City of Hope. This one was a duel effort between me and my Author. We honestly had a lot of fun during this one setting up the world now since we got all the characters done.**

Answers, that was all Kaze needed, were some answers. He found himself walking up the steps from the abandoned subway station, not even seeing Takara anymore after she darted ahead. His thoughts were getting the best of him again, instead of voicing any of his inner discord he would bottle it in until he had nobody to rely on but his own thoughts. So despite walking right next to Wataru, who in turn was picking at his ear and making an "ow" sound every time he did like there was some sort of pain in there, he wasn't saying a single word to him as they walked up the steps. Sunlight permeated their vision once again as they reached the top of the staircase, the sunny, untouched park still in the same condition it was when Kaze went down. As they resurfaced Kaze could instantly see Takara, which was understandable they did just leave, as she was gawking at the ruins biting on her nails trying hard to resist the urge to ignore the loudspeakers and go search the ruins for any artifacts to research for her museum. It seemed as though she was the only person there, which again was reasonable since everybody else had headed back to the Residential Area, although as Kaze looked down the street he could see someone walking down ahead of everyone else. As he inspected closer he identified the figure as Takeshi, whom since he was likely in the Police Station had a head start and was hustling over, trained for any emergency like police officers should be.

"Funny isn't it?" Kaze raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Wataru, who had an almost whimsical smile on his face, the paleontologist breaking him of his thoughts. "Takara, myself… we are in our element when everything's already broken down, all we know how to do is pick things up that have already log since been broken."

Kaze got a very stern look upon his face staring back at the paleontologist "Yes well we need that right now, we need to learn what happened here, so that when we rebuild, we will become stronger." That one hurt Kaze, having to admit that this place was ruined, that there was something wrong here and that the Ultimate City had indeed failed.

Wataru in turn nodded his head a bit "Ah, the old "learn from history so we aren't doomed to repeat it" line, I forget that sometimes." He chuckles a bit seeming to be out of his self-reflective state, something Kaze secretly envied as he turned his gaze from that to a minor clanking sound.

The Inquisitor looked up and noticed that there was a visitor atop the light pole right before the park entrance, none other than the Ultimate Thief himself Deku Inazuka. Instead of joining everyone else at ground level however, he just lounged on the light pole, sitting on it putting his arms behind his head. Before Kaze could question this, somebody beat him to it.

"The hell are you doing up there you little twerp?" Takeshi looked up questioningly, adjusting his shirt with an angry scowl on his face.

Deku smiles and dangles his feet over the edge almost tauntingly "Oh I just like the view, it's not like I'm breaking any laws right? Or do you just not like looking up at people?"

Takeshi couldn't help but emit a growl as he stomped the ground "I am not supposed to allow reckless endangerment, even including to yourself you little asshat! Now GET DOWN!" His anger was starting to shine through as Deku made no effort whatsoever to get down.

Deku chuckles "You may not like it but I am protecting myself, someone is trying to harm me."

Takeshi seemed a bit thrown off by that "Harm you? Who could possibly-?"

And as if on cue a voice cut out screaming "WHERE IS HE?!" And then of all people, Tokaku Nishiyama came barreling down the street, a look of pure disdain and anger only a woman scorned could muster. Behind her was Kerria Than, although she was moving much less urgently, her hands held up so her nails didn't get chipped as she moved at a brisk pace. Noboru seemed to be tagging along and more so jogging with Kerria to keep her company. Kaori however, of course being the bodyguard came sprinting at the scream easily passing Kerria as she ran even passing Tokaku to the park. Tokaku scanned the area and then pointed up to the lightpost "YOU! You're the one who took my pendant!"

Deku for a moment actually looked nervous. He may not be intimidated by even the buffets of men in the inquisitor but an angry woman, may God have mercy. "I…. I swear I didn't.. I have no idea what you're talking about…"

Tokaku looked very impatiently up at him and then at Kaori "That's the man who took my pendant, I saw him scurry onto the roof and looked down and saw my pendant was MISSING! I need that for my hypnotism!"

Kaori looked up at Deku and then over to Tokaku "... Simple enough, I can solve the problem." She then with confidence walked over to the lightpost and gripped it at its base, starting to shake it like one would a palm tree if you wished to collect coconuts.

Deku of course started to sweat nervously looking down at the beast of a woman shaking the tree. "HEY STOP THAT! Do you want me to fall?!"

Noboru walked up and pointed his finger upwards like a lightbulb went off in his head "I know! I'll just climb up and get him down from the roof! There's much less a chance of him falling off there."

Deku retorted from his perch "I don't like that plan either!" But Noboru had already begun to scale the closest building, being the power plant, planning to use the power cables to get across to the lightpost.

Kerria's hand went to her mouth, a chuckled escaping her lips "Yes you go Kaori, teach that no good thief a lesson."

Kaze had been silent up until that point but he did have to point out "Weren't you the one who was going to take things from the store?"

Kerria looks over, her eyes widening a bit "Oh well I need those, besides nobody technically "owns" those clothes."

Kaze says in a very protective tone "The Ultimate City does."

Before he can continue that train of thought, inadvertently drawing attention away was Deku as he screamed to Kaze "HEY! Inquisitor help a man out here!"

However Kaze of course remembered that Deku was the one who took his hat, and nobody takes an inquisitor's hat. He turns to Tokaku and asks "You won't harm him will you?"

Tokaku looks at Kaze still very much miffed and says through grit teeth "I don't PLAN to but I can't promise anything."

Kaze was silent for a second, and then shrugged "Close enough." With that, the Inquisitor sat on a park bench and let things fall as they may, and by things that would most likely be Deku, who's cries of "HELP!" didn't really go noticed.

Now having a moment to himself, Kaze gazes upon the Jin Kirigiri statue, the man who helped to start all of this. He remembers him fondly despite all the circumstances around him, for he was a man that once stood has a symbol of hope, and yet one of the first to fall to despair. The Inquisitor's eyes never left the statue until it was broken by the sound of a voice behind him.

"Come on mister punctual, you're always on my case about being late for class and yet here you are." Kaze looks behind him hearing a new voice, one not a part of his new life found here . No longer was he surrounded by the park, no longer surrounded within the confines of the ruins of the ultimate city or with his fellow surviving ultimates. No longer faced with the destruction and the the lurking guilt that this was all his fault. No he was now within the safety and hope filled walls of...

Hope's Peak Academy.

Kaze's stern glare slowly softens seeing a familiar face, one he hasn't seen in quite a while. His friend and fellow classmate to the 76th class of hope peak academy, his class's Ultimate Lucky student, Imaeda Gennai. He was a very unremarkable boy, however his love of hope and this school could not be questioned. He had very soft brown eyes that hid under his very square almost blocky glasses. Like ost students here he was in a simple brown color student uniform with nothing showing any individuality or difference from the other students expect for a bow tie instead of the usual tie. He was a very slim character with barely any meat compared to the Inquisitor he was a any standing barely taller than 5'2, whilst behind him his semi long brown hair dipped down the back of his neck into a long ponytail.

"Oh yes, sorry I was just distracted" The younger Kaze said as he looked back at the school he was about to enter.

\- 2 years before the construction of the ultimate City-

"Distracted?" Imaeda felt a smile come to his face just hearing that, a disbelieving and goofy smile at that. "Kaze you spent the past 3 years being 10 minutes early class, gonna break that record a few months from graduating?" Kaze saw the man walk over and take his hand. Kaze never was a fan of being touched but for him he made an exception as the luckster pulls him along moving the two into the school.

The two friends found themselves move past their underclassmen, not really paying them much mind despite the talent they were walking amongst. Kaze has changed very little since his time in hope peak academy, his features very much the same although he of course was a lot more well-groomedin the past, his hair kept neat and tidy and his beard of stubble missing. However, he did keep his black pants with the red spades on them, along with his black boots which were fit just for him, snuggling over his feet, and of course his always present signature dark red trench coat flowing past him. Yet his undershirt was changed to that of the standard brown Hope's Peak Academy uniform, and the most distinguished difference of all… his top hat was gone.

The young Kaze Kain always loved this school, everything about it honestly. What it represents, what it did, allowing him to spread the work of God through hope. His ideals were very simple, hope was the driving force of all mankind, it gave us something to work towards, to know that there was something else to get through the strife, the that sense to Kaze, he would argue hope and God and their ideals were one in the has felt that way ever since he was a child, going to church with his father and hearing him tell him these wonderful things about hope. Hope was not only the force that lead humanity to greatness but it was something fragile. Something to protect and nurture. Something hat, to Kaze, was meant to be kept alive at all cost, and the honor of being here, Hope's Peak Academy, was never wasted or lost on him. While lost in his thoughts he forgot he was completely ignoring his friend and tuning out whatever he was saying… rude.

"... and it'll be amazing I bought a new pair and everything and we get to have fun without fellow classmates and..." Imaeda spoke on and on, unaware that his audience had absolutely no clue of what he was talking about.

"I am sorry what was that? I sort of blanked out there for a second" Spoke the inquisitor blunt as usual though he was trying hard not to be harsh, after all it wasn't his fault Kaze seemed to be in another world right now.

"Oh I was just talking about our graduating class end of the school trip to Jabberwock island, remember?" Imaeda faced his friend with eyes so full of innocent hope and joy at the prospect of going to the luxury resort. His brown eyes young and unaware of life's hardships, eyes full of potential.

Kaze Kain walks past him walking up to the third floor of the school "Oh yes that… I am not going. I have to help the school with that murder case that tarnished this school grounds." Says the inquisitor over his shoulder.

"Didn't Mr. Kirigiri tell you not to worry about that and just enjoy your final months of school?" Imaeda said to him. With that it brought the inquisitor silent for a second as the lucky student always seem to know what to say to try and get his way. "Kaze come on, it'll be the last time we get to have fun. Besides think of the food, the sun, the beach, the... swimsuits."

"... idiot" Replied Kaze, yet he had a soft smile on his face. His friend always had a bright way to look at things, and with that the two were about to get to their first class, his hand touching the doorknob about to head in when..

DING DONG DONG DING

"Kaze Kain may you come to the headmaster's office, thank you and have a great day." The intercom went off as Kaze's gaze became focused on the loudspeaker.

"Mmm?" Was the simple questioning reply of the Inquisitor

"Oh ho ho, speak of the devil, well have fun with that Kaze, I'll take notes so you don't fall behind." Imaeda then finishes his statement waving goodbye to his friend "good luck with whatever they want." Kaze looked over at Imaeda, the lucky student, his best friend, where a chance meeting they had lead them to a strong bond and incredible kinship, something he was foreign to. With that Imaeda headed into the classroom, beginning his day normally. Whilst the innocent lucky student headed to class, Kaze turned the corner climbing back down the stairs, making his way to the Headmaster's office to see what was in store for him there and what he wanted.

As he walked through the halls, Kaze heard the sharp sound of the bell is herd, warning students to be in class. Kaze made it about halfway down the hallway until he heard the voice of one of his fellow students of all people.

"You! Why are you out in the halls?! The bell has just rung, it is not very scholarly of you to be out in the halls by yourself! I must ask for your school ID, if you may?" Standing in front of Kaze was an underclassman, a tall fellow in a white uniform that was embellished in honors and medals and with the biggest set of eyebrows one would imagine.

The inquisitor turns to the younger man and he says with a scowl "You know it is not polite to ask your senior his ID, right?"

The younger student bows lowly and dramatically "Yes my apologies for that however I am morally obligated to ask for your ID since you are outside of class after the bell. Those the moral integrity of the student abiding by the laws of the school outweigh the standard of respects towards said youth and elder." Kaze believes he has found a worthy opponent right now. However…

Suddenly a pair of small hands grip Kaze Kain's sleeve and a small voice mutters. "Dark red, firm leather made from… shark skin." Looking down at the voice he saw none other then one of his fellow classmates... Yuki Hashimoto. "Kaze Kain, there is no need for this, you have something important to do."

Kaze nods to her and then looks back at the other student, like her sudden and unannounced prescience there wasn't an oddity to him. "I must go, I'm sorry."

And then in the next instant, the student he was talking to earlier was gone as if he was never there to begin with. As Kaze slowly turned towards Jin Kirigiri's office, he heard her voice again this time sounding more distant and echoing across the hallway, even though the memorizer was right in front of him. "Kaze there is no need for this, you have to get up."

Kaze knew he had to get going, he had to get to that office. He had to learn something. Why did everything feel so far away form his grasp and…

"Kaze" the monotone voice finally snap Kaze out of it. No longer was he in the hope filled walls and safety of Hope's Peak Academy, Not surrounded by his friends and peers who were safe. No longer without his top hat and cape.

No he was back in the ruins of the Ultimate City.

In front of him and standing over the park bench was Yuki her emotionless apathetic eyes staring down at the inquisitor as she slowly lets go of his arm and says "Something is happening, we have to get going." Without another word she turn and proceeded to the center of the park where the rest of the students seem to have all gathered.

Deku was there with a fresh bruise he was nursing on his shoulder, making pained grunts whenever he touched it. A satisfied Tokaku was across from him with a happy grin on her face, her pendant held within her hand. Kerria stood next to the hypnotist, her hand on her shoulder in a sign of comfort and comradery, although it may just stem from their similar choice in fashion, as Tokaku's face went from a happy smile to an embarrassed blush. Kaori stood over them, her arms crossed to ensure no more antics were afoot, and Takeshi seemed to be in agreement as he stood on the other side, the two guardians acting like sentinels watching over the others.

Noboru was by the entrance finally getting down from his perch, it seems like they were able to get Deku down without him. Noboru went back to join the group, moving his bells out of the way of his eyes as his hair seemed to go even more wild from the high velocity parkour he just did. It seemed like as he was at the gate Kaze saw the rest of them pile into the park, hearing the announcement and not wanting to miss out on whatever this was.

Wataru was by the entrance himself as well, practically dragging Takara back by her shirt as she was fighting to get out of his grasp almost childishly so, wanting to get at the ruins of the Ultimate City and study everything as the paleontologist reigned her in. Noboru saw this and decided to help, dragging Takara to the center of the park despite her whines of protest.

In the park already in front of Kaze's bench actually was Tsukasa, who looked on n concern but the second Kaze opened his eyes, she felt her cheeks go red and her eyes shift over to Yuki, a stark frown falling onto her face, her eyebrows furrowing as if she was almost… jealous. Kiaria walked over to Tsukasa and whispered something into her ear, to which Tsukasa nodded and blew Kaze a kiss before walking to the center, his "betrothed" disappearing into the forming crowd. Kiaria lingered for a moment before looking at Yuki and him and then crossing her arms, a disapproving shake of her head and a stern frown following as she turned her nose up huffing into the crowd as well. This wasn't about that whole "love at first sight thing".. right? … Right. Luckily for him Yuki didn't seem to notice as she sat down next to him, waiting for him to wake up so that she could lead him to the crowd.

They sat there for a few more moments, enough time to pass for Satoshi to enter the park, accompanied with all of his cards in tow. "Ahaha! A great beautiful day! As described in my magic card, Sunlit Space of Prosperity, granting an extra 5,000 attack points onto my creatures for the turn!" The card collector stood at the entrance and bellowed in laughter, doing a very unnecessary spin as he then posed on one knee, his arm extended dramatically as he held out said card at the entrance.

Orochi entered the park himself, the small game designer looking at the card collector and smirking. "Maaan and people call me a loser, at least I make things that contribute to the community. You're probably one of those people that go home and jack off to the cute babes they print on your cards, fuckin freak."

Satoshi turned on a dime, his hands crossing into an x formation as two cards popped up into his fingers. "You DARE mock my feminine creatures and refer to them as common succubi?!"

Orochi scowled, getting annoyed at his speech already "Yeesh lighten up, and get away from me I don't want to catch your stupid. If you don't have anything important to say or do then shut up and move your ass!" Despite picking this fight Orochi sure got damn annoyed the second they started fighting back.

Satoshi did not take that lying down as he then reached into his deck and grabbed from the middle of his deck a red card, holding it up in front of Orochi. "Foul little beast, you have activated my trap card! Go Poison Fog of Transmutation!" He threw the card down onto the ground and then jumped back, holding up his hand dramatically. "Once you encounter the poison bog, you shall start taking poison damage and start withering away, losing ALL of your defense points!"

Orochi shook his head annoyed and then brought his foot up and stomped down onto Satoshi's card, making the Card Collector utter out a loud cry of anguish. "Will you shut the fuck up you little wannabee fuckwit?! I have more important things to worry about then some imaginary poi-"

*Spritz*

He was cut off as a small green cloud permeated the air in front of his nose. Just as Kaze was about to get up and intervene he saw the game designer sniff the air, and then instantly gag as he bent forward clutching his mouth, his tongue sticking out like he was about to vomit. "EW! What the fuck is that sme- *HURP*" He had to hold his throat to suppress the urge to vomit. Kaze himself didn't even see her walk behind Orochi, but Kaoru Matsuhita emerged from behind him with her arms crossed and a bottle of what looked like perfume.

Satoshi stood over him and let out a loud triumphant laugh as Kaoru came out from behind him "That is my strong new perfume that disarms any foe, I call it "Shut up and Smell Me."

Orochi was on the ground holding his stomch dry heaving at the dirt below him "God, shit that smells like a french whore wrapped in skunks! And I should know french whores, I've smelled Haruna be-" Again before his sentence could end, he was interrupted this time by a shoe coming down next to his face as he saw looking down at him was the recently arriving Haruna Aiki.

"...what was that?" She asked rhetorically as she picked up the boy, making him wave his arms about and cry "mommy!" as she carried the light boy into the crowd very sternly. Satoshi stood there as he picked up his card, wiping it on his shirt and reclaiming it to his deck.

"And that is what happens when you mess with the Master of Disaster, The Trap Card Trickster, Satoshi Yugimoto! I win, flawless victory!" His "flawless victory" however was cut short.

*Spritz*

Satoshi then gagged hard as he bent over, the wind knocked out of his sails as Kaoru grabbed him by the ear "Nobody likes a bragger." She said like a stern sister as she dragged Satoshi off it the crowd as well by his ear, the perfume rendering him defenseless. Kaze had to admit, things around here seemed to have a way of working themselves out. Kaze looks around and sees that almost everybody was here so he gets up and pats Yuki's shoulder. She was the only real person he recognized here and knew he talked to before all this so there was that immediate trust built in there. "You go on ahead, I will join you, I will wait for the others." Kaze ever being the guardian of the city wanted to ensure everyone was here, his job was fulfilled when he arrived last.

Yuki seemed to understand and nodded her head, she got up and dusted herself off "I suppose, I will immerse myself in the center, you will find me rather easily, I'm not heard to miss." With that very blunt message she headed off towards where everyone was meeting near the Jin Kirigiri statue. Kaze walked himself over to the entrance and waited, though as he was walking over he swore he could feel something touching the back of his leg. He turned around and looked down at the ground and found nothing. He comically spread his legs a bit and looked between them.

And saw the smiling upside down face of Kyojin as the creature actor just nonchalantly crabwalked, yes I will say it again crabwalked, through Kaze's legs like it was the most normal thing in the world. Kaze looked down at this man without his oni mask on but still in his dark brown hoodie with his weird cotton candy colored hair. The creature actor looked up while still under Kaze's legs and smiled up "RAWWWRRRR! Hello Kaze… you never got me m feel better milkshake or my toy."

Kaze "..." He found himself just staring down at the boy and then slowly backed up and sighed, putting his fingers to his temples "Just… go to the statue." He pointed towards the group and Kyojin nodded in compliance.

Although he did retort before he left"Ooook! But I expect two milkshakes afterwards, a toy, and a new mask for my collection, I want a dragon one!" And with that the creature actor walked away on all fours, crabwalking backwards away from him to the center. Kaze took a deep breath looking away out to the city and sighs… well this was his life now.

By his count there were only three people left, the director, the reporter, and the… mysterious one. He waited for a little while until he saw someone emerge from Ultimart, with her camera in hand. It was Tomomi, the ultimate journalist having her camera out and was likely filming everything inside there, maybe for her own personal expose. She looked like she was about to head into the Power Plant to try to get some shots in there, but Kaze loudly cleared his throats to turn her attention to him, and she saw her opportunity shot but hurried over to him "Oh hey there Inquisitor."

Kaze smiles a bit seeing her again, her enthusiasm was contagious. "We've met formally, please call me Kaze, Miss. Kamato correct?"

She smiles back and corrects saying "Tomomi, if I gotta call you Kaze, you call me Tomomi." She seemed to be adjusting something on a small portable camera she had. It looked like a handheld, like one of those tiny video cameras tech students used "Sorry planned on coming earlier, got distracted on filling out my expose."

Kaze raised an eyebrow at her questioningly "Expose?"

Tomomi felt the smile on her face grow wider as he asked her about it "Oh my expose! It's something that I figured I was going to do the second I got here. Ever since I came to the Ultimate City I've been piecing together everything about the city. The citizens here, the architecture, the structure of how the society is laid out. It was going to show the truth of the Ultimate City and how it was a beacon of hope and a shining example of how we could all come together and strive for something greater."

If Kaze was capable of such raw emotion, he would be wiping a tear from his eye right now. Such high praise to the Ultimate City, a city he was designated to protect, it was incredible for him to hear. And yet when he listened to the rest of Tomomi's statement his elation diminished very quickly. "But now… it's just like everywhere else, and I plan to find out why. Was it the way the city was lead? Was it the fact that the ultimates were placed into separate societies and the class differences got to them? Did outsiders get in and destroy the city from the inside? Did the remnants of despair drop a bomb on it? Did the-" Kaze at this point wasn't listening, not out of disrespect to her or her opinions but his psyche had already taken a lot of abuse today and it felt like every word she said was like a knife into his gut.

"Tomomi, please that's enough." Kaze forced that out, a frown now on his face Tomomi looked over and opened her mouth in surprise, making a small "oh" sound as she realized what was happening, taking the pencil she used and bit down cutely on the end of it in anxious energy "Oh I'm sorry that might've been a bit much. I'm just so excited to finally get to the root of this place. It was a wonderful place where Ultimates could live together in harmony and now it's… well this. I want to know why… don't you?" That question couldn't have made the inquisitor any more reflective of his own thoughts. In order for him to find out why the Ultimate City failed he had to admit the Ultimate City HAD failed, that HE had failed. He had failed the city, the ultimates inside it.. he had failed Jin Kirigiri. Kaze Kain had failed hope.

"..." he stood there for the longest time "...yes, more than anything."

H Tomomi smiles and pulls out her notepad, quickly scribbling something onto it and then flipping the notebook so that her little sketch was right next to her head, the sketch itself just having the ";)" emoticon on it. "And that's where I come in. You're the Ultimate Inquisitor, I'm the Ultimate Journalist. We both just want to find out the truth Kaze, and in order to do that you have to trust me." She flipped her notebook back and then started to write into her notebook, looking up at Kaze and said to him as if she was conducting an interview "You trust me right, Mr. Kain?" She added at the end for emphasis.

Kaze looked at her face, her eyes filled with determination, her hand at the B V3. Be bbbb. Bready to record and report anything and everything "... Yes, I trust you Miss. Kamato." With that Kaze felt that he actually could trust in her and her talent, and that made the journalist smile this very sweet smile, putting her camera away and then clasping her hands together, intertwining her fingers within her hands as she looked up cutely at him. "Soooo…. now that we trust each other can I ask a favor?"

Kaze himself looked at her quizzically but answered honestly "Yes, what is it?"

To which Tomomi asked in earnest "For my expose I did conduct interviews of everyone from community A. I could've sworn they were with my belongings but nothing. Everything else from my old house got moved but them so… I was wondering did you perhaps have anything to do with that?"

Kaze crossed his arms a bit, stern disbelief on his face "Why would I take any of your things?"

Tomomi looked away almost ashamed she asked but wasn't deterred "Well, we didn't really know each other that well until now, and to be honest my memory of what happened before I fell asleep is hazy. I know I went back to my house but I can't remember much before that, maybe you moved them? Like, you didn't want the higher ups to be interviewed? You are the city's protector after all, that doesn't mean you need to be a nice guy about everything."

Kaze "..." again, silence from the Inquisitor but then he replied with a straight face "My memory is also slightly hazy, but I can swear I would never take the possessions of another. You have my word, my word of God."

Tomomi stood there in stunned silence, and unaware to Kaze the sun was shining down on him from behind basking him in a yellow almost holy glow, and in that moment Tomomi knew she wouldn't receive a single lie from him "Ok Kaze… well I'd like to find them some day but I'm sure we will get answers."

Kaze nods his head in complete agreement with that "Yes that is correct… we should join the others before they wonder where we are, we wouldn't want to delay whatever the voice wants."

Tomomi smiles and began to walk to the center before she stopped and turned around pulling out her camera again "Hey Kaze…"

Kaze turns back around to face her "Yes?"

She then aims her camera quickly at him with a big smile on her face "Name a type of cheese!"

Kaze starts to say something but it just comes out as "what?" as she then took a picture of Kaze's surprised face and she giggled happily

"There… now we always have this moment. That's totally going in the article." And with that little of an explanation she walked off, a happy stride to her step as she headed towards the group in the center. Kaze was still stunned slightly and yet he couldn't help but be happy watching her go. She had such a curious and exciting aura to her even the Inquisitor felt his heart brighten in her prescience.

"Paparazzi, I swear like moths to the inferno." And to ruin that moment appearing behind him was Daichi Souma, clapping his hands together. "I have to admit I misjudged her. I assumed extra at best but she may be a supporting character after all."

Kaze watches Daichi as the director moves in front of him and the Inquisitor asked the simplest question "... excuse me?"

Daichi however as casually as one could walked up to Kaze and raised his thumb up, licking the end of his thumb and then pressed it against Kaze's tie, straightening it like one would a stamp. "Oh nothing don't mind me, just keep everyone in their places Inquisitor, we all have a role to play, and a cast can't function when one tries to get a big head and an even bigger part." Not explaining himself for a second, Daichi left to go to the statue, as quickly as he had appeared he was gone, leaving nothing but a weird message and some spit on Kaze's tie. Kaze almost out of spite gripped his tie and shook it, destroying any impact Daichi had in it as he then looked back to the group. Everyone was here, everyone except-

What the hell?

Kaze's thoughts were cut off as he looked at the group and behind everyone else in the group.. was Shino. Way in the back, standing there and waiting like everyone else, he was just there. Kaze couldn't help but approach him, a very questioning look on his face as he asked "Shino, how did you get here?"

And Shino turned without missing a beat "I walked…"

Kaze was dumbfounded by his casual nature to all this. He watched the entrance like a hawk and nobody was in the Subway when he came up. "How did you get past me?"

Shino again didn't hesitate or act like anything was wrong "I don't know, I walked, that's all."

Kaze was confused, and felt like he was missing something. He didn't want to feel like that anymore and walked past him, taking his spot at the front of the group. Along the way he found Yuki, who touched his sleeve and then walked with him to the front. He found himself next to her, as well as Takeshi in the front, the three remaining members of Community A for as far as they could tell. The truth was out there, and if this voice was right and gave any answers whatsoever, they would need to be ready to comprehend it. Whatever was coming… they would be ready.

Or at least the thought they would be… but could anybody be ready for what would come next?

The silence was broken by none other than the local law enforcer. "They asked us to come all the way to the park and nothing!" The growl that escape the tall man was more akin to a beast then a man. That Kyojin was honestly jealous.

"Hey aren't you one of the leaders here, shouldn't you know if the board does anything. Or are you so unimportant that they just forget to tell you this kind of stuff." Spoke the game Designer. Orochi giggled to himself in a sadly cute way, like he was a young trickster more than the vulgar teen he actually was.

"Hey Orochi can you like lay off for a..." Haruna spoke but was cut off by the game designer saying quickly.

"Chi"

"...Huh?" The online reviewer nearly says.

"I preferred to be called Chi you indigent bitch" Orochi or should we say Chi scorn at her.

Kaze found himself in the middle of the group and he felt the urge to rub his temples at the minor annoyances. To help him calm down his gaze he turned from the crowd of ultimates and focused upon the statue of Jin Kirigiri, the former headmaster of hope always seeming to lighten his mood and his heart.

"Now, now, come on, let us all get along. We are all in this together, am I wrong, no?" The puppeteer spoke hands to her lips smiling watching has the other squirm around.

"Ha-ha yes I agree with she who reminds me of the Black Sorceress girl, It's almost uncanny!" Satoshi pulls out his card and looks at it then at her quickly as if scanning them both

"Oh that, I modeled a bit when I was younger, I wanted to be the Mistress of puppets but noooo.. a boring Sorceress" Kerria says offhandedly those Satoshi. Just stared at her for the longest time as she returned to her conversation with Takaku.

However at this point Kaze had to admit this was odd they were called here by the intercom and yet nothing. Where was this board talent or whoever called them. His Mayor? Was this just them wasting their time or..

Then it happened.

The world around Kaze and the rest of the ultimates exploded as the very Earth under their feet was shifted and blasted up, sending the teens flying around the park.

"What the hell?!" Screams one of the ultimates, Kaze believes one of the guys but he couldn't tell his ears were ringing from the explosion.

Scatter about the park near the statue of one late Jin Kirigiri. The dust settles the ultimates were scattered among the ground. Kaze found himself on his back with something not at all heavy on his chest. Looking up to see the Dancing Painter Tsukasa on his chest as she covering herself form the falling dirt. Kaori was one of the few still standing, those she stood in front of Chi and Kaoru acting has a wall for the two smallest ultimates in the group. Other such has Satoshi was covered in small layer of dirt and grass while Shino who sat up feet from him only stared at the misfortune of the card collector. Tokaku, Kerria and Tomomi were together as they were a bit against the statue. Kerria whining about her outfit those Tokaku seemed to be gripping the Journalist a bit to hard. Takara wasn't to far off from the group luckily her need to explore and search for clues lead to her being away for the most part from the explosion.

Deku somehow was lucky enough to be behind the statue itself when the explosion happened, probably just to avoid the crowd but still got some dirty sprayed onto him. Noburo being the twig landed the farthest away of the group almost hitting the swingset on the opposite side of the park. Takeshi was down for only a second but then he was the quickest up and seemed to be on guard the moment he was back on his feet. Kyojin and Diachi were in a mess of limbs and hair, Kyojin not making the moment easier by squirming and clawing much to the annoyance of the director. Kiaria was gripping her violin in the fetal position only caring about defending her prized profession, which luckily for her no harm came to the string instrument. Wataru was gripping his ear, the poor kid seemed to be having issues with that and the explosion probably didn't help… at all. Haruna found herself in a nearby bush, much to the enjoyment of the game designer, though while he was laughing at her dismay some stray dirt found its way into his mouth making him gag and spit all over the place. Finally was Yuki who had her back against the statue rubbing the back of her head, she must have slid against it during the explosion which must have hurt.

"What the fuck was that?!" The cop screamed his hand to his hip has if going to grip his nonexistent gun.

"Get off of me you third rate B movie hack!" Daichi shoving the monster actor off him with a indigent huff as he got up. After this "mistreatment" Kyojin began to complain trying to give the director a puppy dog look which was ignored.

"What was that?! Is everyone ok?" Tsukasa sat up, her weight being pressed down on Kaze's waist. Sure she didn't weight pretty much anything but that wasn't the issue at hand right now.

"... Miss. Thailynn, can you please get off me?" Mr. Kain spoke up.

"Oh my goodness." She looks down and stares at the intense gaze of the inquisitor, her eyes a bit lovestruck once again despite Kaze's rather annoyed look in his own eyes.

After about 10 seconds of Tsukasa just kind of sitting on his chest, Kaze finally felt like he needed to speak up again "Well?"

"Oh sorry." She jumps off him as she then went to help Kaze up, a pink tint crossing her cheeks. With a simple thanks he put his top hat back on, and soon the rest of the survivors began to get back up looking around at what just happened.

Either by some sort of coincidence or by some dramatic cue the explosion was not a bomb of some sorts but no it was actually a platform that just by happenstance was under them blasted through the surface. Where they once stood now stood a stage, grand and on display for the whole park, and on it was simply 7 chairs, the center one being the highest in elevation while to the left and right of it the chairs were lower than it, almost like they were less important or implying a chain of command.

A small flash caught some people including Kaze's attention, the flash coming from Tomomi's camera as she took a small picture of it.

"Is it really the time for this?" Chi snorted.

Tomomi sort just ignored him. Maybe used to people being critics of her work those honestly most likely more focus on the things at hand. Haruna would envy the ability to ignore that brat.

""Mmm hmmm uhmm dah mmm a mmm" the mumble sounds of the Card collector still within the confines of the dirt he found himself in.

Kaoru "what did he say?"

Shino perks up "oh oops, just allow me too..." he goes and swiftly uncovers the mouth of Satoshi. "I'm sorry Mr. Yugimoto can you repeat?"

Satoshi in response "Did we activate some sort of trap card?"

Kaoru "... oh nothing of value" she slowly takes the dirt from Shino's hand and then places it back over the mouth of the maniacal card obsessionist.

Kaze moves back everyone taking the lead those being quickly flanked by the Cop and Bodyguard they stood in front of the group defensively has they all stared at the stage and the chairs within them. "What do you make of this Kaze?"

The bodyguard asked the Inquisitor those the Hope filled devote was confused. Until.

"Board of Talent" Yuki points out "I know those chairs they belong to the board of talent?"

Kaze eyes shrink a bit realizing it was true and before looking down and under the stadium was a small wood sign painted over in purple canyon. "Board of Talent". Wait so the board was still alive. Why are their chairs here? Where are they? What was going on here? Were they finally going to get answers to all the questions they had.

For a foolish second Kaze felt himself give into Hope.

Before it all came crashing down into Despair.

Soon silence fell between the ultimates as they all stood waiting for something anything to happen. To have everything answered to have maybe some slim chance this was all some type of joke played onto them. The silence could not have been more deafening. No one dare speak a word after this reveal and the idea that the Board of Talent along with all 7 members might still be here and could lead them all back to safety. Only then did Kaze pick something up within the silence of everyone. How truly and utterly silent the city was. Not a sound was heard. Not a bird, or a car horn or even a voice or the sound of falling rubble. It was deadly silent never in Kaze's life has silence been this ear drowning so utterly loud. It was almost unbearable how loud the silence was. Kaze despised how silent it was… and how much he would miss it.

Then the silence was shattered.

"RISE AND SHINE, URSINE."

A explosion of smoke and powder erupted behind the platform, blocking the view behind said chairs. Everyone minus Kaze took a instinctual step back. Not out of any bravado or strength did Kaze not move. No it was because all at once Kain's body refused to move. His heart sank, and his eyes became downcast, as he finally realized how much danger they were all truly in.

"Oh come on, we were too late! We were suppose to be on the chairs when they showed up!" A stoic mature voice spoke out within the smoke.

"HEY, don't look at me. I didn't have the BUTTON" A loud harsh voice spoke out from the fog of billowing smoke

"Staph fightin, bwothahs" A soft voice finally said.

Just then a figure stood and walk out of the fog. The harsh voice spoke again "We ain't fighting, we are disagreeing. If a fight would happen let's face it, I would win!" Then the first thing to be spotted on the creature was its face, a face divided in half. The first side of the face was pure white in resemblance to a teddy bear the second part of it was a deep blue, on that side was half of a cheshire smile with fangs, and most notably was the crooked red eye on it.

However past that was everything else. This wasn't some small teddy bear. No this was a 8 foot tall man, his body lined with pure muscles. His face was little more than a mask he wore. He was shirtless the only other clothing he wore was a Blue camouflage pattern pants and a black with a blue tink commando boots and a blue beret on his head. The harsh voice spoke out. "Whatever we are here now and look the kids are here. Whatsapp weaklings. I am Monogruff! Fuckers!"

MONOGRUFF

The massive man then went and took his seat to the farthest left sitting his entire form upon the poor chair which was not meant for a man of his size, whining and creaking under his form. "Oh please darling brother, must you use such vulgar language in front of the children? It makes use look uncivilized to such a…. Dashing young crowd of gentlemen and beautiful ladies."

Just like his supposed brother, the next one came out. His voice was more of a upper class type of low rather than harsh like Monogruff, having a low and almost sultry hint to it.. But just like Monogruff he too wore a mask, however this one instead of white and blue, it was White and Pink, and looked like he was on the more proper side of things, wearing a pink tuxedo with a black tie and black dress shoes. He looks like the height of sophistication, walking up to his seat with his hands behind his back, but was smaller than Monogruff by a whole 2 feet. He gave a bow. "Hello all, I will try not to be rude like my dearest brother. Welcome to our little game, I am Monomaxime"

MONOMAXIME

Monomaxime took his seat opposite of Monogruff deciding to sit in the farthest right, crossing his legs the moment he did. Even though he wore a mask everyone could just feel the creepy gentlemen like smile though the mask. Then as he sat, Monogruff grumbled out. "Oh aren't you the civil one you fuc..."

"Phatha told you no sweawing in phwont of me, big bwothah." Next voice sounded out as the smallest figure is seen, only standing at a micro 3 feet tall wasa very small girl, her voice soft and full of childlike wonder. Again with the same mask that seem to be what unifies them, but this one was white and purple. The small girl wore a purple dress with black socks on with no shoes. She had a purple back back on. The girl could be no older than 3 years old those she seem to have a beaky in her mouth. "Oh all the poopieheads awe hewe."

MONOBABE

"Now now Monobabe stop being mean and go sit next to your brother" A soft almost melodic voice rang out. Monobabe with a nod quickly ran over and sat to the right of Monogruff who reaches over and scruff her hair much to her protest. Coming out of the smoke next was another girl well not really a girl. More like a woman, and a very developed woman at that.

With a mask that was White and Yellow was a woman with the longest blonde hair you could imagine going down and actually dragging on the floor. She had a small waist and a perfect hourglass figure. She wore a long yellow dress that dazzles and sparkles as she walks along with black gloves that went all the way up to her upper arm, as well as a pair of platform heels on her. Monomaxine reaches over and took her hand placing a kiss to the back of her hand "Ah dearest sister Monolisa, it is always a pleasure."

MONOLISA

She went and waved to everyone "hello there everyone, wow so many handsome men and beautiful women, I think I am going to enjoy this place." She sat to the left of Monomaxine as she also crosses her long legs though her eyes seem to linger on a couple of the people in the crowd, Kaze ncluded.

"BWA HAHA, get a load of these brats faces!" Coming out behind her was the harshest glare one could muster behind a white and green masked face. This man was small only in the sense of height at 5'8 feet tall however he was round in a plump like body shape those he not only seemed to be fat it also seemed to be a layer of muscle to him as well. He wore a heavy leather green coat with fur collar and trimmings, he had a pair of black pants with a green tints and dress shoes. A green tie and a green and black fedora on his head. And in his sharp grinning teeth was a cigar. "What are you brats looking at? Gawk and get shot, capiche?"

MONOBOSS

Monoboss took his seat to the right side of the center chair as he grumbles a bit puffing out a ball of smoke from his mouth. Finally the last one stood up from the smoke and the stoic voice they heard first spoke finally. "Yes we have arrived." And with that coming out of the smoke was the 6th member of this group. His mask was white and red. However also on his head he wore a golden crown. He had a long red cape that went to the floor and he wore silver and red armor under the cape, at his hip was a sword within its sheath and finally on his back was a large what one can only describe as either a long and big box or has a coffin.

Standing at 6 feet tall and with a reddish beard sticking out of his mask. He then spoke up, his voice very regal sounding. "Welcome, I am Monoking."

MONOKING

He then took his seat to the final chair being right of the center chair. For a moment they all sat there looking upon the group of survivors in front of them until finally Kaze spoke.

"Who… or what are you? And what have you done to the board of talent!?" The inquisitor stood up taking a step forward as the 6 figures all look down at the blazing symbol of hope and they spoke.

"Board of talent?" Monogruff looks over at everyone "I thought we were the board of talent?"

"No no no you knucklehead he talking about the blokes before us." Monoboss spoke out as he held his cigar in his hands.

"Oh yeah." The blue sibling laughs "I sometimes forget those weaklings existed hahaha."

"WELL!?" Kaze grunts out questioningly, his patience being tested.

"Kaze Kain calm down." Kaori behind him says this trying to make sure Kaze didn't do something stupid.

"We have to be careful." Tomomi walks over hoping to calm him down as well.

"To answer the question about the board, we don't know. All we know is that we are the board of talent now." Monomaxime stood as he then gave a bow "thank you for voting for us, we'll make sure to do our very best to make this game fun."

Satoshi jumps up, now free from his dirt imprisonment "He said game again."

"And to answer your other question." Monoking spoke.

Then all in unison the six bear faced people jumped and cheered.

"WE ARE THE MONOKUBS!"

Kaze stared at them for the longest time as the six intruders to the city posed in front of him as if what they just said meant anything "Monokubs… the hell are the Monokubs?!"

Chi stood up tall, well as tall as a five foot kid could muster and started laughing at them. "Monokubs?! Oh man that just sounds so gimmicky even I wouldn't use that in my games!"

Monogruff put him to shame with a bellowing laugh that completely silenced and dwarfed the little man's "Oh look at the little cutie trying to be tough, it's so cute I could crush him into a pink paste to brush my teeth with." This brought about the rare occasion of Chi actually shutting up.

Noboru was staring up at the giant mass of muscle that was Monogruff and instantly panicked, backing up a bit and semi-hides behind Kaori. "Why are you even here?!"

Kyojin growled at the six "Monokubs" and scratched his hands on the ground like he was marking his territory.

Monolisa purred at Kyojin strutting forward to the end of the stage "Oh my what a cute little monster, I would claim him as my pet but I do believe he isn't properly housetrained."

Monobabe pouted and walked up to her sister, lightly tugging on her hair "Awe but big sistah, you pwomised me i could get a badgah or a wolvewine, somefing cuddwe."

Monogruff let out another laugh as he faced towards his sister "Oh do not worry Monobabe, I will get us the most cuddly of pets! Where is that grizzly I put in for?!"

Monoboss pointed an accusing finger at Monogruff, a scowl coming onto his face "Oh no you don't! No more pets from you after your rhino gored my best boys and shat on my carpet!"

Monomaxine stepped between the two "Now boys, you know I don't like getting in between you two unless it's after a romantic candle-lit dinner, but please we have guests." And it seemed like just then they remembered that they in fact barged in on the survivors and answered none of their questions.

Monolisa extended her arms to the crowd "Awe I apologize, the poor dearies must be so confused."

Takeshi crossed his arms and glared at the cubs "And pissed, don't forget about pissed!"

Yuki looked up at the kubs with an intrigued look upon her face "If you aren't the Board of Talent, then why are you here?" The kubs looked at each other as if searching for someone to give the answer.

Kaori glared at them, her arms crossing and a glare reaching her features "Well… we're waiting."

And then Monoking finally spoke up again "So are we knaves."

Takara was the first one to speak up "Wh-wh-wh-wh-whatdoyoumean?!" She finally spoke out

To which Monoboss promptly mocked by replying "We me-me-me-me-mean we can't tell ya yet ya fuckin morrons! He's gonna be introducing himself."

Monomaxime chimed in "Of course when he makes his fashionably late entrance."

Kerria looked very surprised of course, then again she's had this look since they first showed up "Oh my, there's a seventh one of you?"

Tomomi almost blurted out next to her "Even if it is another adorable girl we don't need more people who won't answer our questions!"

Kiaria finally got off of the ground, still clutching her violin in her hands "This is leaving a very sour note for me, please explain yourselves."

Wataru could only meekly offer out a "Yeah!" And then he clutches his still ringing ear "Oww…"

Monolisa turned her nose up at them "Hmph, we already told you our hands are tied." Unaware to her this made Monomaxine sweat as he held his hands behind his back clutching his wrists together. Tied hands, the feelings of being unaware of what was going on whilst others manhandled and insulted you… oh my.

Monobabe walked over to her brother lost in his own world and waved her small hand in front of his face, before shrugging and taking her binky out of her mouth, placing it into her brother's open one. "He needs it mo."

Daichi tried to take a more civilized and appealing approach to this "Ah but it is not inappropriate for a director to not give his audience all the details? It just makes the plot twist come out of nowhere, and nobody likes that."

Tsukasa tried to chime in even though she wasn't exactly sure what was happening. "Y-yeah tell us!"

Tomomi finally quipped out "Yeah, you guys have a flair for the dramatic, you wouldn't want your audience to get bored would you?" And little did she know what those words would bring

For just as the Monokubs were about to retort, a voice nobody had recognized yet spoke out, a very dark and oddly high pitched voice "Boring? I'm sorry… did you say boring?"

Jin Kirigiri credited on being one of it not the best headmaster of Hope's peak academy and he was the one memorialized in the park in statue form to give people hope on why they are here to fester their talent away from the war. He stands over the group as the scene then moves away Kirigiri moving past each of the ultimates. From Noburo frighten face, to the questioning look of Takara, to the dumbfound face of Satoshi, the frightened face of Tsukasa, the annoyed face of Chi, the unreadable face of Shino, so on and so forth. The ultimate survivors looked around has the voice almost rang out of nowhere, Yuki's face posed in one of thought trying to pinpoint the voice she knows she heard before, as were the others trying to distinguish this odd voice. Kaori and Takeshi stood valiant on the front of the group waiting until it finally landed upon Kaze's inquisitor face looking forward towards the stage

In unison each one of the monokubs all turn their head at the same time and stared at the chair in the middle that was behind the podium.

*Boing*

Jumping up from the podium was a figure, then landing perfectly on his round tushie was…

A teddy bear… one side of him was completely white and the other side completely black. No bigger than your average teddy bear. On the right side was more in line with what one would expect from a teddy bear, a black button eye, very cute features imprinted on a white background. But then on the other side was where things went completely different, a huge Cheshire grin and a crooked red eye on a completely pitch black background.

The monokubs spoke again in unison as if they were programmed to react the same way by all screaming "It's Father!"

The rest of the ultimates all stare at the bear, almost having this nagging feeling they have seen this bear before. It struct most of them dead with fear and they didn't know why, it was the most agonizing feeling like it was at the tip of your tongue and you know something but you just couldn't get it out.

"A…. Teddy bear?" The perfumer questioned, Kaoru looking completely stunned at what just jumped out

"Wait the mask, those other six the mono whatevers, have the same face has the teddy bear." Chi points out looking across as it was true minus the color variation they all had the same look.

Tomomi paused for only a second to point out the obvious "...ok this is really confusing and weird but is anyone going to point out they called that teddy bear their father?"

The museum Curator looks over to the journalist "Well many ancient tribes used to worship inanimate objects, maybe they worship that teddy bear." She had no clue how accurate she really was.

"A… Teddy Bear?" The teddy bear spoke out "Did you just call me a Teddy Bear? I am not a teddy bear!"

"Ok I am not crazy but I swear I just heard that Teddy bear talk." Tokaku points out "Did I hypnotize myself without realizing it?"

"SHADDUP!" Screams out the green monokub as Monoboss yanks out of his pocket and was a small black object from his coat, a loud bang ringing across the park as a bullet slams into the ground inches from the crowd. Monoboss's smirk widens which they didn't know was possible as everyone jumps back.

"Yeah stop insulting our father you brats!" Monogruff stood up towering over all of them as the 2 most intimidating of the 6 monokubs stood in front of the crowd.

"Now now, don't worry my children." The bear spoke and that seemed to be enough to reign back both Gruff and Boss as they took their seats again. The bear smirks and walked to the edge of the podium.

"Now where was I before I was rudely interrupted? Oh yes I know. Hello my lovely citizens to the Lost City of Talent! I am you despairing Mayor who will be overseeing your stay here in my city." He began and grew silent most likely letting us all process what was said.

"Did he say the lost city of talent?" Kerria looks over to her friends who merely gave her a shrug.

"No no no, not the lost city of talent, its the Lost City of Talent. You have to capitalize the beginning of the words expect of, you heathens!" The mayor yells out.

Deku slowly and almost bravely walks forward though not passing the 3 survivors in front. "I hate to be the one to question the talking plushie, but isn't this the Ultimate City?"

Haruna rolled her eyes "Oh yes Deku, that's what's wrong with this situation."

"Ultimate City? I wasn't aware this still looked like it… no the Lost City of Talent, is the Ultimate City… well what is left of it." Monolisa spoke out from her spot.

"Honestly I preferred the old look, this ruined state is more in line with Monogruff then my own taste but hey, to each their own." Monomaxime sort of needlessly adds.

Takeshi patience has hit its limit as he shouts "Just get on with it you freaks, who are you anyways?!" The cop took a step forward, which made the bear take a step back beginning to sweat has if he was nervous around the cop, though the 6 Kubs stood up ready to defend their "father" has they put.

Yuki nods next to him "Yes I would remember you but i do not recall either of you 7, why?" The memorizer questioned.

Daichi also adding pointlessly "Oh time for the villains dramatic reveal!" A smirk spreads across the Director's face.

"Villains?" The tightrope walker questioned.

The bear looks over a bit confused "Who am I… have I not introduced myself wow I am getting rude in my age, those after doing this 3 times already I just assumed you guys would have already known me by now. Oh wait that's right… the mind eraser, that right to make this all the more dramatic." The mayor smirked out.

"...Wait is a mind eraser?" Questioned Wataru who seemed to have finally worked out his ear issue.

"At this point I think the little gremlin is making shit up." Chi spoke out. "Honestly if this is the antagonist he the most non-intimidating one i ever seen"

"He has a gun." Haruna looks over at the game designer

"Correction the fat one has a gun." Chi shot back

Monoboss "... fat?" He almost sounded hurt. "Pa says I'm just growing."

The despairing mayor was not deterred by this interruption...again. "Me? Oh I am just your humble simple despairing mayor of this once grand piece of doodoo that we all be living in for the unseeable future. I am here to make your transition from luxurious life to the game all the easier. I am your headmaster, my name is..."

MONOKUMA

It was at that moment like a freight train came down at them, as if they remembered everything. It was like those times you remember a general thing that happened but none of the details has if someone walled off these memories and now the dam has finally collapsed letting it all flood back to them. They all knew about the tragedy and this war of despair but none of them could remember the face of this threat until he said his name.

This was the monster behind The Worst, Most Despair inducing Incident in the History of Mankind, The Tragedy.

"It's the ultimate despair." Kairia spoke fear evident in her voice as standing before them was the greatest threat humanity has ever face, the embodiment of despair itself.

Finally he spoke, after being silent since the bear made his appearance was Kaze Kain. The ultimate inquisitor knowing the feeling he got when he first saw the bear, was one of fear but not the normal fear one would get that would strike them into a panic. No it was the type of fear that would lead into a passionate uncontrollable rage. Like fire and water clashing, or when a mongoose and a cobra have crossed paths. When a cat and a dog share a room together. When two people with differing opinions begin to talk to one another on the internet!

Kaze stares dead on at the true enemy, and him saying his name only confirmed his suspicions. He stood up and actually got onto the stage.

"Kaze?" A couple voices spoke out seeing the inquisitor getting upon the platform which held the Board of Talent, the Monokubs and their master. Some such as Tsukasa and Kaori try to reach out to stop him.

"You 7 are under violation of the Ultimate City and I as its protector must ask you 7 to leave or face the consequences of your actions." No fear was in the inquisitors voice as he stood before them all. "I shall not allow despair within my walls."

Monokuma only stares up at the inquisitor has he blinks a bit ".. here you go" The mayor then gave him a small electronic pad "this is for you, its red I made it special order just for you."

Kaze questioningly looks down at the pad "what is… anyways as I was saying, I am authorized to use deadly force if despair infiltrates within the city..."

Monokuma looks over to his "daughters" "Girls can you pass out the rest of the monopad to our citizens?"

Monobabe happily complies "yesh fathah" she jumps down holding up other pads of varying colors.

Monolisa got up with her own pile of pads "Ok daddy."

Kaze Kain stares… is…. Is he being ignored right now? "... NOOWWWWW as I was saying, I am the ultimate inquisitor chosen to bring… can you stop ignoring me, I don't get to say my speel often."

Monokuma smiles as he then jumps up and bounces off Kaze's head (knocking his top hat off of course) and lands down with a cute *squeak* has he moves over to the end of the stage now seeing that everyone now has there pads "Now then what you have in your hands my beautiful citizens are what I call the City hand books, or the Monopads for short..."

"Patent pending." Monomaxine says from his chair.

"Here you'll be able to see the map of the authorized city zones of the Lost City of Talent, along with the rules and regulations and… can you get off my stage please?" Monokuma and the 6 monokubs all just sort of stare at Kaze Kain for the longest time. After a minute of nothing but the most awkward silence one could imagine Kaze slowly just got off the stage. Not to show a sign of submission mind you, mostly because well… it was getting awkward.

"Anyways, here are your profiles which you can write your day to day experiences here in the city, sadly there's no wifi..." With which the distant groans of Chi and Haruna were heard. "So you little brats can't go and look up any of the nasty sites that involve sensual licking of another person's armpits!"

"Eww that's so gross." Kyojin sticks his tongue out in sheer disgust.

"Kyojin be tolerant of other people's kinks, you were raised better than that." The Director hits Kyojin over the head with a round up news paper.

"I think we have had enough of our delaying the inevitable monokuma, why are you here anyways?" Kaze finally having enough of the bears crap.

"Yes why are you doing this? There has to be a reason you guys are all here. If you are the ultimates despair you wouldn't just take over a city just for you guys to mess around in?" The bodyguard says glaring at them.

"Hey don't overestimate us, we have done far worse for so little." Monogruff roars out from behind his father.

Monolisa who has found herself against Takeshi pressing her wonderful pair of personality against him, which seemed to have absolutely no effect on the cop. "Yes, maybe we just like having some new play things to mess around with?"

"I highly doubt that." Kaze simply said glaring at them.

"Fine, fine if you must know we have gathered you all to begin the greatest and biggest game that I have ever hosted." Before anyone could question what he meant by that, he says.

"It's time to begin the Killing City Life! Phuphu bha hahahahaha"

Monogruff "Kakihahahahaha"

Monolisa "hihi hihahaha"

Monobabe "ah ah dahhahahaha"

Monoboss "Doh hahahaha"

Monomaxine "mhmmhm mhm haha"

Monoking "..." He stands there stoically, being a buzzkill.

Kaze felt his head spin there in that moment. He had heard about and seen the horrors of this bear before, what he turned Hope's Peak into, and now seeing the Ultimate City like this it was finally making sense to him, that fear turning into anger, as in his mind he started blaming Monokuma for everything. Though before he could speak again, Kiaria spoke out next.

"What exactly is a Killing City Life?" She said that question so innocently, clearly not knowing about the events of the past and what this bear has caused in the past.

"Puhuhu, oh that's adorable, she must not have heard about me before. Well my darling little student, the Killing City Life is exactly how it sounds. You will all live here together and be one happy, healthy community, living your lives here together in harmony like you were supposed to in the original city." Monokuma says in his usual happy and enthused tone of voice.

Tsukasa ever being the optimist looked up at the kubs and gave a hopeful smile. "Well… that doesn't sound so bad."

Kerria put her hand to her face,not out of annoyance but more disbelief. "Oh poor Tsukasa, so unaware of what is coming."

And then Monokuma let out a laugh, a laugh that shook the whole park with the pure resonance of happiness and despair combining to form something… unholy. "Well there is one catch, one way to escape the city, this no longer completely safe city." His red eye glinted, a flash of pure bloodlust coming into everyone's view as it did so.

"... You have to kill someone."

The words came to everyone's ears but they couldn't believe it, each student taking a step back in pure fear and horror at the words the bear had uttered, even if some knew it was coming to actually hear it and to have their suspicions confirmed absolutely paralyzed them in fear. The 6 kubs and their father once again embellishing themselves in a loud round of laughing… except for Monoking, never Monoking.

"But why would we?" And then Monokuma and his kubs stopped laughing as they turned to face the source of those words… Kaori. "Aside from the living conditions being less than ideal and you just saying it is the case now, we have no reason to conspire to leave this city."

Tomomi spoke up next, holding her camera up in the air "Yeah! I mean I have documented the entire works of the killing game that took place at Hope's Peak for a special across the airwaves, we all know the horrors that were caused there, why would we ever participate in this?!"

Noboru chimed in next "Yes, and we all came here voluntarily, living here was our plan from the get go."

Hearing those words inspired Kaze himself to speak out "Yes, and as this town's protector and Inquisitor I will not allow despair to take heed in our hearts, there shall be no killing here!"

"..." Monokuma's face went completely blank as an awful and awkwardly long pause just completely permeated the air as Monokuma then looked down, an almost bluish and sad tint on his face "Well now I wasn't expecting such a rally this early on, usually I get screams of terror and complete dismay but nooo… couple goodie two shoes ruin the moment."

Monomaxime walked over and rubbed his "father's" back "It's ok father, I thought it was a wonderful speech."

Monobabe turned back to the group and pouted "You meanieheads! You made daddie sad!"

To retort was Tomomi "And you're dad just told us we had to kill each other, kind of hard to care how he feels."

Monolisa gasped "How rude! Do you not know the basic human condition of empathy?!"

Monokuma let out a loud and deep sigh "Oh don't worry about it my darling kubs, not everyone can be raised as well as you are." He looks over to Monoking and slowly sat down on his round plushy tushie. "Hey uh, red one… could you give them the rules? That really wore me out."

Monoking looked over to Monokuma and nodded in response. "Of course father." He walked to center stage.

Monogruff raised an objection from his side of the stage "Hey no fair! Dad never gave me a nickname! I'm never The Blue One!"

Monomaxime came over and embraced his brother in a hug of completely normal length and said in an attempt to comfort him "Oh do not worry my brother, Monoking just talks so little father sometimes forgets his name."

Monoboss chimed in "Yeah! That's why you gotta be as loud and bratty as possible so they always know you're around! The best kind o kid is the one that never lets their parents forget their responsibilities."

Kyojin of all people spoke up about that. "Hmph, only brats would listen to that advice."

Chi joined in "Yeah, as if that would really work."

Monoking then stamped his foot down onto the stage, having everyone's attention demanded onto him as he held up a Monopad "Now then our citizens of this Lost City, turn your Monopads to the Rules section! It is the fourth section from the right, right after the report cards part. You will learn more about the handbook as you go along."

Haruna raised her hand "Umm excuse me, what is this "Options" tab?"

Monoking "..." He blankly stood there for a moment "That is for a… different setting. Anyway please focus on the rules, now you knaves!" After a few moments of rebellion, even the people like Takeshi, Chi, and Kaze all turned to the Rules section where they all saw the rules there and outlined for them. Monoking began to read them off as they flipped through the section, sliding along it with their finger.

"1- All citizens within the Lost City are to remain within the designated city limits. Outside of this you may investigate the city to your heart's content."

2- Night time is between 10 p.m to 7 a.m. Some areas in the city will be blocked off during that time.

3- Going out at night is not prohibited, although safety is not guaranteed.

4- Every other night, a citizen will be taken by the Board and the Despairing Mayor for "questioning." This will last until the end of night time.

5- Violence against the Despairing Mayor and his Board is prohibited. Punishment will vary depending on who is attacked.

6- The only way to escape the Lost City of Talent is to be Exiled, and the way to become Exiled is to kill one of your fellow citizens and avoid being discovered. Those who kill another citizen will become the "blackened."

7- When a murder does happen there will be a short period where a investigation will occur and after a short period of time to investigate, the CIty Trial will commence.

8- If the blackened is discovered, the alone will be executed.

9- If the blackened is not discovered, they alone will be Exiled and leave the city, whilst everyone else is executed.

10- Further rules can be added by the Board of the Despairing Mayor at any time.

With that being said and rules stated the red Monokub returns to his "throne" setting his box aside as the other Kubs took their seats as well.

"And with that we shall commence the killing game… not like anyone cares." The mayor says in a still slightly defeated tone.

Kaze stood tall in front of everyone, looking up at the stage with a very confident look upon his face. He knew that there would be no killing with in his city, lost city or not it was still his to protect. Next to him stood Kaori and Takeshi, like a line of protectors, forming a wall to block the Monokubs from the rest of the group. Tomomi then got in front of them, right next to the front of the stage and aimed her camera to take a picture of this very stoic and rebellious moment, Noboru joining in alongside Kaori practically climbing on top of her to give a happy peace sign for the camera. Things seemed like they would be "normal" relatively speaking… and et when the camera panned behind them there was a completely different scene taking root.

Right against Kaze's back was Yuki, holding onto the sleeve of his coat as if trying to get his attention as she saw behind them everyone else did feel the initial seeds of panic a killing game can quickly influence. Kiaria stood in the northernmost right corner, playing her violin whilst sweat poured down her face in a very nervous way. Next to hr was Tsukasa, a bit more towards the middle having her paintbrush out and holding it against her chest like it was an impromptu defense weapon. A bit away from them was Haruna clasping her hands together and looking nervously across the way at Chi, who he himself had his mouth open like he wanted to scream in confused emotional anger but couldn't emit a single sound. Next to the little brat was Satoshi who was throwing cards around his feet like he was trying to form a protective circle around himself. A bit away from them was Tokaku, trying to group herself together with Kerria quickly, whilst the Puppeteer had her hands to her mouth in shock perhaps not to the announcement of the game but everyone's reactions. Slightly ahead of them was Kaoru who had a bottle of perfume out, her spray nozzle aimed to the crowd just in case. Near the center of the group was Kyojin, on all fours running around in circles nervously like a dog chasing its own tail, and Daichi looking down at him in utter disgust. Wataru was also in the center though he was holding his ear like all the commotion was hurting him, and Takara stood near him a hand on his shoulder to help him and comfort the paleontologist but her gaze was towards the crowd looking concerned. As the view got closer to the statue Shino stood against it completely unaffected by anything going on here, completely silent and stoic to the events here, and behind him actually climbing the statue was Deku just to get away from the rest of the crowd.

Monokuma sighs and leans on his arm as he looks at the crowd of survivors and their reactions not entirely to impressed with it all. "Huh it's nothing like the last group, I mean in a previous group the fat chef guy I think peed himself when I announce the killing game… I am so tired, oh poor monokuma."

"Aww don't bwe sho sad daddah, we will cheew you up!" Monobabe says trying to help out her father.

"Yeah pops I think I know how to cheer ya up. Ya I got it pops always did like stuff being loud and impressive!" Monoboss states jumping up.

"You mean like explosions!" Monogruff cheers from his seat looking over with excitement.

This actually did catch the bears attention "Eh, explosions?"

"Yeah pops we haven't officially taken over the city yet, so lets take it over once and for all pops, by killing the symbol of hope itself!" Monoboss then stood and a cloud of smoke with a comedic *poof* sound is heard before a bazooka lands upon his shoulders. "Time to kill hope itself!" He aims a bazooka directly at Kaze Kain.

The Inquisitor eyes widened as he took a step back.

Kaori immediately sprinted for him "Get down Mr. Inquisitor!"

Tsukasa's face lit up in pure horror as it paled. "No don't I am too young to become a widow!"

Shino says to himself "oh no not again!"

Tomomi immediately panicked "Kaze!"

And then Boss while laughing his maniacal laugh, no mercy or sympathy through his masked face, aimed and fired his bazooka at Kaze, well more so exactly over Kaze Kain missing him by mere inches as the rocket flew over him. The Inquisitor then turns along with the rest of the survivors to see where the rocket was heading… It was on a straight course to the…

Statue of Jin Kirigiri

Kaze then shoves some of the survivors out of the "NO!" but it was to late, all of it futile as the rocket creams into the statue exploding it into piece has the last headmaster of the hope's peak academy and symbol of hope itself is destroyed sending the ultimate inquisitor flying. Luckily for them, Shino was able to duck down just in time as Deku had to launch himself off the statue to escape, a few other ultimates unfortunate enough to be in range got knocked to the ground as well.

"Oh yes now that's what I call a DOOMING display of despair Monoboss! This is why your my favorite one, my fat little dumpling! Phu hahahahahahhaha" Has he begins to laugh soon he was joined by Monoboss as the duo began to laugh. They were quickly followed by Monogruff's boisterous laughter, then by the giggling fit that is Monobabe. Then soon joined by Monolisa and Monomaxime who hold each other to support their laughing fit. And Monoking stood their stoically saying nothing and not joining into the laughter.

Kaze slowly sat up as around him people were getting up. Wataru was being helped up by Takara as he was gripping his ears in pain. Haruna was being pulled up protectively by Satoshi. Deku and Daichi groan sitting up a bit rubbing their heads. Shino's face was in the dirt as he got up as of the survivors were dead though for a lot of them there was some mild pain.

"Oh my..." The cop began looking as his bravado was gone.

"W….what is every happening anymore!" Kaoru holds her head as she felt the tears coming "I wanna go home! I don't even like this place!"

Tomomi for once didn't have the energy to take a picture of what was in front of her.

Yuki says in the coldest way possible "So this is what happened when the city fails… I must remember this."

However as they all panicked and freaked out has the flames of the explosion began to die and the dust settled on the now crater that once stood Jin Kirigiri. The world around Kaze seem to go blank, what he stood for and a reminder of his ultimate goal now completely gone, decimated before his very eyes.

Monokuma couldn't contain his giggling laughter as his hands went to his mouth "Puhuhuhu, what an excellent show. Now THESE… THESE are the reactions I was hoping for. Look at all of them running around like the cockroaches they really arel PHU HAHAHA" He smiles and continues as the ultimates either stare horrified at the destruction they caused or to Monokuma himself. "Now you truly see what hope is, a fleeting pathetic little tool you use to hide your true fears and feelings, the true power of des..."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" A loud animal like scream silenced the entire crowd, even silencing Monokuma at the barbaric roar he heard, him stopping mid sentence and slowly turned to the mad man screaming at the top of his lungs.

Kaze Kain slammed his fists into the not so soft ground, each punch releasing something bottled up inside of him, ruining his perfect leather gloves until an all to familiar pink substance began to run his knuckles bear.

"K...Kaze?" A weak voice of someone spoke but Kaze didn't know who, didn't care to figure out as the Inquisitor of Hope, protector of the city stood and turned to face the kubs and Monokuma. "AHHHHHHHH"

Kaze then lashed out his arm and something no one saw him having slash out of his sleeve of his trench coat. That being the silver glint of a steel blade being released from his hiding hole, a lethal weapon that everyone in the group was unaware the inquisitor even had, a scary thought that Kaze at this moment will not care about the consequences of revealing it.

Without thinking, acting more on the primal animal like instinct that haunts all men, he charged the kubs and more precisely Monokuma. Not a single word left his mouth just the same primal scream that has yet to leave gi almost making it come out hoarse and raspy.

However has he pushed by most of the survivors many too scared to even dare touch or get near the over 6 foot man that is the Inquisitor of Hope, it was one brave woman who held to her promise. If Kaze fell she'll be there for him.

Kaori lunged and grappled his arm. "Kaze don't, this is what they want." Not that the top hat wearing man was listening. He was completely unaware that all 6 of the kubs like a pack of hyenas were waiting for him to get on the stage so they could rip him apart, because they would need Kaze to break the rules first before they could intervene. But again Kaze didn't care. Kaori although she was a powerful woman couldn't keep her grip on him forever. Rushing over to grab his other arm the one with the blade was Tomomi "Kaze listen to us"

Followed by Tsukasa and Noburo who all grappled him, to all of their surprise even with 4 other people some of which were not weak by any stretch of the imagination could barely contain his power. "Kaze stop… Kaze!"

Kaze's eyes were blood shot as he was pushing against them, trying to end this once and for all. All of the survivors trying to get the so called Hero of the City one who was suppose to stay calm when everyone couldn't to stop from getting himself killed,

A voice again he didn't know or care to figure out who. "Enough" Then the people in front of him made a face of "oh" the face someone would make if they saw you hit yourself standing up under a table, or when you stub your toe. As something hard, metal and with a lot of force slams into the back of Kaze's head.

The blow struck him and sapped Kaze of his strength. Soon everyone slowly let go of him, as consciousness began to fail him. The last thing Kaze saw before he was taken was the face of the forever grinning Monokuma.

Kaze slumped back and fell over unconscious as the city around him crumbles as Monokuma took control.

Kaze once only seeing red, was now lost in a sea of darkness.

 **With that the chapter comes to a end and I think a lot happened, I am curious guys one what you think of Monokuma and his Monokubs and I know, what the monokub are back but they suck. Trust us we know and we plan on making these Kubs actually interesting and fun and have a point. And what do you guys think of Kaze's freak out at the end. Well until next time. Also there is a poll on my profile for you guys to check out. Peace!**


	5. Fist full of regret: featuring breakfast

**Hey everyone the next is up and this one took a small bit I must say we will try make sure the next chapter is out quicker next time and I hope your in it or the long haul.**

[Monokuma Theater]

There's something beautiful about adoption, cause then you're not leaving your children up to chance. You can just walk into a store, I mean orphanage and pick the one who is built for success who will take care of you. And hey you're doing a great thing you see, as you're taking some brats that their real parents didn't want. So you got the perfect brat of your own, birth free and hey if you decide to actually have kids the normal way and they are not up to your totally unreasonable standards, put them up for adoption. So this cycle of unloved children who have some serious abandonment issues is self sustaining. I mean look at my group of beautiful children, my last bundle of kubs were dull, uninteresting and honestly took up too much time that eventually lead to a lot of unsatisfying endings… not saying my new monokubs are adopted or anything…. Bye!

[End of Monokuma theater]

Darkness

For what seemed like an eternity that was all he could see… darkness in every direction. Honestly this was a preferred state away from the rest of the world and all it despair. For a moment Kaze was honestly, not happy more content then anything to float in this darkness.

But like all things, this also came to an end.

Kaze did not remember the victim of this interrogation, neither was it honestly all that important who this poor soul was. Has the darkness soon faded away into a dream, well less a dream and more like a memory of the past.

Haunting him as always.

The room was small with dark grey tiles,a single table and chair in the room, nothing out of the ordinary expect lining the walls of the his small room were the most horrifying tools and equipment one would ask for. Nails, scissors, scalpels, poisons of varying degrees of pain, a car battery and so much more. The room was covered in the pink stains of blood, new, old, dried and fresh on the ground. Kaze never took much enjoyment from what he had to do in the name of hope but he did what he had to.

"Now I will ask again. Where are the shooters from the previous massacre, they left you to die. Why defend them?"

A small cough escaped his lips, turning into ragged breaths and a louder cough echoing across the room. Kaze couldn't remember the person he was interrogating had in place of a human head a monokuma mask, everything else was uninteresting and normal, nothing else of note, expect for the missing digits in his hands and the bleeding that just kept coming from his wounds.

"Ah haha, foolish idiot you think this affects me, making me filled with so much despair, that this will make me suffer. This very honest feeling, I love it hahaha" The insane despair worshipper spoke with a maniacal laugh as he watches Kaze intently waiting for some sign of victory. "You can't do anything to me that i didn't do to myself already."

Kaze noticed a slight twitch in the doorway as the door opens, and the maniac seemed to look over oh so slightly at the door frame himself. His old friend the luckster Imaeda looks in "Kaze there's a..."

Holding up his hands to silence his long time friend was Kain as he leans forward a bit and says. "No, what I am doing is not filling you with despair is it? I see it, how you crave for me to agree with you, how whenever someone opens the door you look as if you expect something. When the alarms go up how you cheer." Kaze slowly stands up "All this pain is not despairing it's just pain. However I am doing something that you never did to yourself, giving you a choice. You're hoping someone comes to save you, or hoping it all ends." Kaze opens up his coat and pulls out a piece of paper "Confess, and give me the intel and you're free to go. I know you're going to think I am lying but I can tell you want out. You're hoping I am telling you the truth." He walks by and taps the maniac on the shoulder "Welcome to the side of hope." The man just stares at the paper, wanting to say something to fight back but by the time he found his voice Kaze was gone leaving him in the scariest thing to him, silence, where his betraying thoughts were at its loudest.

"..." Silence continued to fill the air as the inquisitor looks over at Imaeda "I thought I told you not to interrupt my… meetings."

"Oh yeah you did, didn't you..." He looks up smiling and says "However someone is here to see you." He looks over "I think he's a part of the Foundation's top secret branch." With that he took Kaze's sleeve. "Come we shouldn't keep him waiting." With that the two teens walk down the wall full of members of the Future Foundation. Hope and the Future's greatest chance of survival and truly God's chosen few.

Though, those thoughts were how a certain red cloaked man chose to interrupt this mighty group. He and his friend returned to his office given to him by the foundation as he moved up the ranks faster than most people 3 times his age. Being an ultimate from Hope's Peak has its perks, guaranteed success.

Within his office was a man who was considerably ancient in looks, His eyes were probably these powerful brown now are more dull and less descriptive, a smaller by a more then just shoulders. He was bald on his head and clean face. Kaze had to admit he looked like Mr. Kazuo though he assumed most grandfather-like people looked like him.

"Yes?" Kaze spoke, nearly given the poor man a heart attack. Leaping out of his skin and at the books he was reading from Kaze's bookshelf slowly fell off all scattering across the floor. Varying from books of Human Psychology, How to read lies, varying books of hope and many good of religion has a whole.

"Dear God you gave me a heart attack." He blinks a bit and coughs straightening up. "Oh Master Kain" He bows to Kaze.

The Top Hat wearing man slowly walks over, silently his eyes scanning the man has he crouches down and begins to pick up his books. "That is what the plaque on the desk says."

"Ha… a jokester I see." The elderly man looks down "oh sorry about the books, you have quite a impressive set of books, though they really don't vary do they… Not a lot of fiction in your collection I see." A friendly smile trying to break the ice that was more like a glacier then a thin dusting.

Kaze looks up at him placing the books back into their rightful place. "What joke?" Kaze was a bit confused but he then walks off to sit by his desk "Fiction has no place in a world like this, it wouldn't be practical."

Imaeda watches his friend his smile slowly fading at how Kaze acts.

"But you're so young?" The old man says almost under his breath says however the Inquisitor was trained to pick up even the slightest noise.

"What about my age? Is it distracting someone so young made it this far in the Foundation?" It was a honest question, though he did miss the point.

Kaze watches the old man scan his room, his frown making it ever more obvious this man wasn't trying to hide his reactions as if he wanted Kaze to see him, to be able to read him like a open book. Kaze looks around his room, it was all practical. Bookshelves line the wall not a single book except his holy books were there for pleasure, each one was there to help in his Job. His desk only laced with papers, pens and no personal touches at all.

"There are not even any paintings." He spoke again. "Or pictures" For some reason that struck Kaze the wrong way, as if his disapproval was more important to him then his own logic.

"Can I help you?"

He perks ups and looks over at Kaze and the frown slowly turned into a small smile. "Where are my manners i'm Nakasone Sanetomo. I'm a part of the Board of Talent, have you heard of us?"

"No" It was sharp, honest and probably the answer you expect from Kaze Kain at this point.

"Good then one of my colleagues is doing her job right" he smiles as he was picking up his stride. Much like a salesman about to make a pitch, or a car dealer. "You see we were hand picked to build something that will revolutionize the world. We are building something quite amazing, to defeat Despair once and for all!" He sounded so excited.

However this caught Kaze and his partner's attention as they share a look before they look over at this Nakasone Sanetomo. "What would that be sir?" Imaeda spoke before the Inquisitor could, which was probably a good thing.

"By building a world that where it cannot exist. Where everyone's hope and dreams can live and grow and strengthen. Everyone's desires met and so much more. Despair cannot survive where it cannot be found!" The old man spoke as passionately as he could, seeming to work himself up a bit

Kaze says "And what does this have to do with me?" Imaeda cringes at how his friend spoke however the old man did not lose a beat or stumble at the cold demeanor that is the Inquisitor.

"Because Hope needs to survive and we need a guardian. A person who will join us and make sure nothing goes wrong, to make sure something petty doesn't disrupt the balance." He starts smiling wider "We need an Inquisitor of Hope to protect our city."

Imaeda starts off with "CIty?"

Kaze sharing his friends confusion adds "What CIty?"

He smirks as he then goes and places a file onto the desk and slides it towards Kaze as the inquisitor places his hand on the file before picking it up and reading it.

"Kaze I would like to be the one to humbly invite you to become our Sentinel. We invite you to join us… In constructing and preserving Hope within the walls of the…"

Ultimate City

And then everything went blank as the memory was gone and returned of the darkness. Kaze looks up from his file and the man Nakasone Sanetomo was gone "Mr. Sanetomo..." he looks to the side of him. Imaeda was gone as well. Kaze was left standing abruptly and he looks around very confused "Guys!" He saw the door to his office was creaking open. Kaze from behind his desk could feel his arms tremble has his eyes focus as slowly so slowly the door began to open more and more.

"Phuphu" was all he heard before the wall and door leading to his office shattered open as the wood splinters vanish into nothing. Kaze glances up to see at the end of the hall, with the walls covered in the stains of pink blood. Was a small black and white teddy bear.

"Phu phu..." It spoke again before walls of the office began to decay and rot turning to ash. As kaze looks around before he heard screaming. Turning around in his sight was now one his beloved Hope's Peak Academy. Then he saw something on the roof, he saw a girl in a student outfit on top of the roof of Hope's Peak.

His eyes were trembling as Kaze went to take a step forward as all of a sudden he felt arms gripping him. Looking behind him he saw their horrifying faces. Monoboss and Monolisa grasping his arms, Monogruff arms firmly on his shoulders, Monomaxine and Monobabe on their stomachs grabbing his legs. Finally a firm cold steel of a blade to his throat, as Monoking was to the side of them his sword out.

He looks back at Hope's Peak as standing on the railing of the roof was the girl and next to her was Monokuma, and the bear let out a horrible laugh, a laugh that would chill your very bone. Then the girl took a step forward.

"No…." Kaze barely choked out as he watched the girl fall from the roof before unceremoniously slamming to the ground, "..." then he heard another sound, looking over he saw a young boy slam right next to the girl, then another boy bigger and wider slamming next to them. Slowly looking up. Kaze bare witness seeing has he see dozens, no hundreds no… thousands of young kids climbing the railings of Hope's Peak Academy, the symbol of hope and strength for the future as they began to fling themselves off the roof.

"Phu phu phu BWA HAHAHA" Monokuma then grew becoming monstrous in size has the students were no long leaping off the school and to the ground, no they were leaping right into the waiting jaws of monokuma, like salmon into the waiting jaws of a bear. Then Kaze eyes widen as he felt the cool blade slowly move across his neck, as pink substances shot out of his neck, before they shoves him into the jaws of monokuma with only the distance and overbearing sound of laughter over took him. He fell into the darkness…

"GRAH!" Kaze shot out of the bed, a cold sweat beating down his chest. The sounds of several people crying out in shock were heard but he didn't place them. Not yet anyways, his bed was damp has if a puddle of sweat was coming off him. Has He slicks back his hair before he finally looked around at his surroundings.

He was in his room, he was safe… well as safe as one could be in a killing game. However that wasn't all. He didn't remember going to bed or returning home from yesterday and his head was killing him…. Oh that right.

Surrounding his bed were 4 other people. Them being Yuki who was behind his bed side with a wet towel ready to apply it, her face was still dead as usual. Kaze startling waking didn't seem to startle her. However that cannot be the same the said of the other 2 members of the survivors in his room.

Tsukasa was on the floor slightly near his bed she was probably the closest when Kaze awoke suddenly. Not far away by the wall was Wataru however he wasn't even looking at us, he was looking around the room, has if Kaze scream didn't affect him or if he didn't even hear it at all. Finally was Tomomi who was on her feet holding her heart.

"Kaze… oh you're finally awake you been out for several hours and..." Tsukasa slowly stood back up as she says "We are so happy and..."

Kaze finally spoke as he sat up straighter and less panicked "Who hit me?"

They all look at one another as Yuki says "Stop moving your loosening the bandages." She says dully has she reaches over to help getting the bandages firmly on his head.

"You took a nasty hit, Kaze." Tomomi spoke as she walks over and taps Wataru on the back as he turns around.

"Kaze, you're awake!" The paleontologist says with excitement evident.

"Yeah we were worried since..." Tsukasa was silences by the Inquisitor raising his hand and quiets her.

He looks over at everyone and then says again "Who hit me?"

The silence took over the room as everyone watches Kaze's intentful stare. He had suspicions however he wasn't going to accuse without evidence and clearly one of them must have known.

"Takeshi" Yuki says breaking the silence as she moved her hands up, getting the bandages back to where they were.

Images of the cop flash in his visions as he growls and gets up, he then looks down at his wrist noticing that his blade strap was now gone. He figured that would be taken it was probably for the best that was gone. Though it did make him feel vulnerable, not that he will ever show it to the people in his room.

"He also wanted you to be handcuffed though Kaori talked him out of it." The memorizer continues as she looks over as knocking was heard across the room. "Three small taps, a pause and then a 4th one.. Kaori is back" She left the room leaving the 4 alone.

Wataru looks at the two other girls in the room has he took a couple of steps towards Kaze. kaze watches him expecting that he was about to say something. "I don't like violence and what Takeshi did is abhorrent." Here comes the but. "But..." There it is "You acted very rash and could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Where is Takeshi?" Kaze looks over, ignoring Wataru and his concerns as he got up as he looks around at the three of them.

"Kaze please, don't start anything. Everyone is anxious and those kubs are not making it better." Tomomi sighs as she sits on the bed by the Inquisitors feet. "... Takeshi and Tokaku seem to be going door to door collecting anything that can be posed as a weapon"

Kaze looks at his doorway, hearing his front door open and the distant muffled sounds of Yuki, Kaori and he believes Noboru. They must have passed by each other and started a conversation, probably concerning Kaze himself. Kaze did sigh a bit in his bed, allowing himself to lay back into it wondering what people were saying about him now. "Oh the Inquisitor has lost his mind, he's unstable." And in some ways he kind of agreed with them, the thought of hope being distorted and destroyed at the will of that Desbear made his blood boil the likes of which it had never before. In a moment he saw the two figures of Noboru and Kaori enter the room, those two seeming to have attached to each other quite quickly, well more so Noboru attaching himself to Kaori, the circus performer likely enjoying the company of the resident strong woman who helped people to push themselves… and she just seemed to like pushing him to be better than he already was, though she seemed to feel that way about everybody.

Kaori crossed her arms as her gaze fell to the Inquisitor. "... You're looking better."

Noboru tried to chime in to help his mood. "Yes the uh… the bandages make you look cooler… like a rugged protector look, very fresh."

Kaze looks at the tightrope walker in a confused way "Fresh? Noboru fresh is a word you use to describe food, and I am not food."

Tomomi sighs "Kaze, it's slang for cool."

Kaze "...slang…?" He asked in a very sincere yet blunt way. "Is that a way to say he's speaking in tongues?" Oh and Kaze thought he wouldn't need to perform any exorcisms here, well time to get the cross.

Tomomi pushed her pencil against her lips, giving him a curious look with her deep, introspective eyes. "You were one of those people who only watched educational TV huh?"

Kaze looks over to the reporter "How did you know?" To which she responded by just shaking her head, a small amused smile on her lips. Tsukasa seemed to give Tomomi this small look of well, not contempt but something close when she spoke to Kaze like that, and yet Kaze of course didn't seem to notice, and neither did Tomomi.

Kaze went for a change of subject to something he deemed important "So… what have the Monokubs been up to in my absence?" He asks not knowing how long he'd been out.

Wataru finally spoke up, seeming to finally regain his equilibrium and hear what was going on. "Oh well… it seems like they haven't exactly changed that much about the city per se, but I think the blue one has taken charge recently saying there were going to be some changes around here coming very soon."

And that did NOT sit well with Kaze "They've already destroyed the city and taken all the hope they could.. they do not have the right to change anything else. The Ultimate City deserves to have some dignity kept within its walls." Tsukasa put a hand on his shoulder, to which Kaze didn't seem to notice whose hand it was but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming down that there were at least others there and he had to set an example for them.

Kaori nods a bit "Yes well we may not be able to stop them from making changes to the city, but I can at least ensure that they will never touch any of the Ultimates whilst I am still standing."

"A great sentiment Miss. Kaori, however that is not the point." Walking into the room was the orange haired director, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked around with a million dollar smile "Don't you see, they do not want to kill us. That would ruin the fun. They wish for us to kill each other."

Wataru backed himself up until he was in the corner, like those words physically stunned him. "I-I heard them say that, and it's outlined in the rules.. but they can't seriously expect us to do that can they?"

To which Daichi smiled wider "Oh but of course they do, it is a classic plot device. There is a big bad, but the true enemy is the human condition itself. They have torn down the walls of society and expect the pressure and fear they create to be enough to push our frail psyches over the edge."

Tomomi however was someone in the room who wasn't fazed "But we have been over this, we have no reason to kill each other. Being put in this situation, maniacal overlords over our heads who try to control our lives. When all we have is each other, why would we ever try to kill each other?"

Noboru nods a bit, seeing her logic as he gets all bright eyed, his bells shaking and even jingling a bit "Yes and of course, we'd effectively be crippling ourselves. And when we all trust each other it would be worse still to kill our friends!"

Tsukasa gave a smile and a twirl trying to lighten the mood, some light blue paint falling onto Kaze's floor, and onto poor Noboru's hair, to which the small Paleontologist feverishly rubbed his hair trying to get it out. "Yes of course! We are all survivors, friends… maybe even more. We would never betray each other."

Kaze let a small smile come across his stern face, seeing that everybody was on the same page about this made his heart slowly start to fill with hope. Daichi had his smile fade only slightly, like a cause and effect scenario of seeing Kaze's heart fill with hope that he had to know was temporary.

Daichi "..." He was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment "I see we are all sharing an arc then, well I shall let you get better then Mr. Kain, I simply wanted to ensure we all knew the situation." And with that the director gave a dramatic bow, like usual rolling his hands back as he did making it as slow and drawn out as it could be, before he took his leave, exiting the room as quickly as he arrived.

Noboru looked nervously at the entrance to Kaze's house where Daichi just left and said what everybody was likely thinking "... what a strange man."

Tomomi let a small huff cross her face "Ultimate Buzzkill: Daichi tries to Make Everybody feel Bummed in Face of Adversity." She moved her hand as she talked like she was presenting a headline for everybody to see. This got some chuckles from the likes of Wataru, Noboru, Tsukasa.. even Kaori cracked a rare smile. Giving everyone a reason to smile, it was nice. Nobody wanted to sincerely address the issue at hand so to try and focus on getting the Inquisitor better and to crack jokes, it was helpful to all involved.

And yet unfortunately, at some point the serious nature crept upon them as Kaori spoke up. "Tsukasa, Wataru, Noboru… would you mind waiting outside? We need to talk with Kaze in private."

Tsukasa let a frown cross onto her features but gave a nod. "Oh um, ok… I'll go try to find some people to talk to. Maybe paint a smiley face on my house! Ooooooh that sounds delightful!"

Noboru gave Kaori a smile "Sure thing Kaori, I can go find something else to do for a while."

Wataru nodded in agreeance "Yeah I should probably go check up on Takara anyway, I think she might have gotten into Ultimart again looking for relics… I don't think she understands."

With that, those three left, leaving the journalist and the bodyguard alone with Kaze, the Inquisitor curious what they had to say.

"... Kaze we want to address something." It was Kaori who spoke up first, Tomomi giving a small solemn nod.

Kaze could only respond with a small "Oh?" It was quiet and questioning, but still concerned.

Tomomi handled the follow up "Well, Deku, Kerria… Takeshi… a lot of people are saying we should try to assign a leader to help us. They think people aren't confident enough in themselves and that we need someone to help guide us through this. And this isn't to say that this issue is going to escalate it's just, well with the Monokubs around people may be a bit more relaxed if we have someone who they feel represents us, a designated leader."

"... And?" He was wondering where the problem was in this.

"They're saying that it should be either Yuki, Takeshi, Satoshi… or me." Again it was Kaori who spoke up saying the names of those who were practically on the ballot, and it didn't Kaze long to notice one problem.

He wasn't on it.

Kaze gave her this blank stare that slowly became a frown of apathetic disappointment. "Oh… I see." He could understand to some extent but really… Satoshi over him?

Tomomi slowly had her hand go to Kaze's shoulder "It's not that we don't trust you, just after your outburst some people are worried that well… you could… get yourself killed."

And that got under Kaze's skin so much "So they don't trust me then. I'm assuming this was Takeshi's idea. He must have been the one who pitched it."

Kaori adds quickly "No it was Yuki's."

"...What?" Not much shocks Kaze these days, but that did. Of all people to not trust him, people to not be able to rely on him and say he was incompetent… Yuki was not one of them. "It was just a lapse of judgement… where did she go?" He knew that he wanted to speak with her on this matter.

Tomomi looked over to Kaze "I'm not sure, we passed by her as we came in but we aren't sure where she went." She extended her hand to Kaze. "In the meantime that's apparently going to be happening tomorrow, it'll be an anonymous vote from what I hear but it would be good for you to get up and get back to talking to everyone.. we're meeting at the restaurant to discuss things over breakfast." Breakfast, so he was out for the entire night. Takeshi must have hit him pretty hard, but Kaze didn't doubt his strength. After a second he took Tomomi's hand and she helped him up, as Kaori crossed her arms looking at the situation stoically. The girl who had the weight of the world on her shoulders, and the girl who wanted to help find the truth, right now they were two of the best allies Kaze could ask for and unfortunately it seemed like they were two of the only allies Kaze had.

Kaori opened up the door to Kaze's house "We will let you collect your thoughts, we will meet you there. Take your time Inquisitor… and good luck." Kaori left after those words, leaving Kaze and Tomomi alone for a brief moment.

"... You know Kaze, that was brave what you did. Stupid, and I kind of hate it, but it was brave." She had her hand pat his head, to which she had to go onto her very tiptoes to do. "I can see why you are the Inquisitor, but don't forget you're not the only one who believes in hope. Just because we don't kill ourselves over it doesn't mean we don't care or we're against you."

Kaze looks at her and has a small frown, his emotion shining through for a split second. "That's easy for you to say, you're not the one who was told people don't trust him anymore."

Tomomi put her hand to her chin for a moment, her pencil put between two of her fingers and it went up for her to bit cutely on her eraser in thought, to which she comically spit out at the horrible rubber taste. "Life is kind of like yellow journalism. People embellish the truth, and for a while that recent over-displayed news becomes our lives. We think about it all the time, it scares us, or makes us feel hopeful.. but that doesn't make it true. Trus journalism is hard to find, just like honest people, people like you." She has her pencil go up and lightly to his nose, making it twitch as she says in a cute way "boop." That all but forced a smile onto his face as the reporter continued for a moment "Hey just give it time, people will see you care about them more than anyone else." With that, Tomomi gave him a bright smile and then turned to leave, trying to leave in that happy high she gave him but then of course she had to go for the photo opportunity moment, turning around and quickly aiming her camera at him. "Name a type of cheese!" She said it so quickly Kaze didn't even have time to react before the flash went off, and she took her photo and ran, a little giggle escaping her lips as she took the Inquisitor off guard.

Kaze watched her leave and that smile stayed on his face. For a moment he forgot about the throbbing pain in his head, the pain of losing his position of authority, the Aapain of the Ultimate City crashing down right on top of him, and let himself think about the contents of that likely unflattering photo. It gave him hope, something ironically he was the one who seemed to be lacking lightly. Kaze knew his appearance was unkempt and after having those ladies in his room he for the first time in a while felt self conscious about his appearance, and went to the bathroom to see if there was running water. When he did he saw on the wall of the shower was a small notice stuck onto it.

"Running water turns off after 9 p.m. It turns back on at 6 a.m" Of all rules to have, that must have been a very weird one for Monokuma and his "kids" to have sat down and come up with. When Kaze focused closer he saw a small notice at the bottom written in tiny letters "This is more for nostalgia than anything." That was… strange, but he ignored it. After that weird little interlude, the Inquisitor disrobed, removing his red trenchcoat, his top hat, his undershirt and pants, feeling a bit more naked without having to remove his sword, but he cast that aside. The now naked Inquisitor got into the shower, letting the water run over his dirty green hair, not washed for God knows how long, letting his body be removed of grime and dust. He felt all of the disgust from the previous time he had been in that strange slumber leave him, the hot shower opening his pores up and letting him read for the first time in what felt like months. As he listened to the water fall onto the shower floor, feeling the droplets go across his skin, he could only close his eyes and feel himself drop to the floor, sitting on the hard tiled floor and almost meditate like a monk, the water soothing his troubled mind. All of the pain and disturbing imagery going into his mind temporarily left him as the inquisitor sat in there for only five minutes, but for him it was almost equivalent to hours, letting the water wash away his sin and anger.

However like all good things, it had to end. He picked himself up off the shower floor and turned the nozzles, having the water turn off and returning him to reality. And the second he was brought back to reality…. he felt his fist slam into the side of the shower right where Monokuma's notice was, all leftover raw emotion placed into that solemn punch. Ok, now Kaze felt better. He exited the shower and picked his clothes off the floor, putting back on his undershirt although instead of putting back on his overcoat in his relaxed state he draped his trenchcoat over his shoulder, the red fabric falling back over his shoulder and hanging there. Next came his boxers and a pair of black dress pants he grabbed from his closet, knowing that everything in his closet was organized from when he first got here, grabbing a pair of socks and putting back on his shoes, the Ultimate Inquisitor left the house again, casually sweeping a hand through his hair to tuck his bangs back in a line to frame his face rather than having them drape down and almost cover his eyes. For the first time in a while, the original vision of the Inquisitor had returned. He found himself strolling down the Residential Area for the first time since he woke up and it was strange, with this new layout of the houses aside from Tomomi and Yuki he had no idea who would be sleeping where, whose assigned house was whose. This new concept of who was placed where in the Ultimate City did make Kaze's skin crawled but he kept that to himself and let it pass, it wasn't worth getting himself worked up over again. Besides, he had to meet the others at the restaurant.

As he walked down the street simply looking at the houses, he heard the noises of the resident weirdo at work "Ahahaha! My deck has been mastered to perfection! I would like to see the little elf or the stink artist catch me off guard now!" And Satoshi was at the end of the street, cards sprawled across the road as he laid them all out bare, assembling his deck in the perfect order, combining special summon monsters, basic creatures, spring cards, and special assists to layer onto the monsters. "The perfect strategy of Shih-Na Go! To combat them and their tricky ways."

So Kaze had a glaring question on his mind when he looked at Satoshi… how did he get on the ballot instead of him? What made Satoshi more qualified than him? But as he approached it seemed like somebody had the same idea as Satoshi was approached by Kaoru, to which the card master let out a small squeak of surprise and yelled out "Spring Card! Blinding Light of Residia!" And then from Satoshi's wrists shot out two cards from his custom holders, blinding the small perfumer with a shrill shriek, the card master likely taken off guard and not wanting to reveal his secret strategies this early. He quickly grabbed his cards including the two that launched at her and scrambled away as the perfumer rubbed her eyes and then blinked, gasping when her vision returned to her.

"Oh my god he disappeared into thin air!" She looked around in utter shock as Kaze sighs and walks over to speak with her.

"No he's not, he's right there." And he points to a sprinting away Satoshi, ducking behind the buildings as he ran with his arms extended behind his back for maximum escape velocity of course.

Kaoru stares at his retreating figure for a moment "...oh" She then looks over at. Kaze and gives him a sincere smile "But hey you're up! That's good, I thought Takeshi brained you so bad only my revival perfume could wake you up."

Kaze had to ask "Revival perfume?"

Kaoru beamed at the opportunity to explain her master concoction "Well it's still in the beginning stages, but it is a perfume with such a pungent stench that it permeates through the barrier between life and death itself and literally pulls your soul back into the mortal realm… doesn't that sound handy?!"

Kaze just stood there completely dumbfounded "If you could actually create that unholy concoction… well I-" And just in that moment

SPRITZ!

Kaze got a face full of perfume making him hold his throat, his eyes watering up instantly "ACK! What was that for?"

Kaoru pouted a bit "You called my research a mean name, so I gave you a sample of my newest perfume, Tongue Twister… it's supposed to literally twist your tongue into the shape of a pretzel but it looks like it didn't take."

Kaze still held his throat, the man has been through the wastelands of despair, seen tortured and mangled bodies and even had to interrogate some of the worlds worst… and yet that was still one of the most foul things he has ever experienced. It smelled like if rotten eggs and fish guts went for a date in a hot sauna and started French kissing… so it was bad. "Says you…" Was all he was able to blurt out before doubling over.

Kaoru put a hand on his hunched over back and pat it "It's ok, we're friends again now, just be careful what you call my babies from now on." And just after that intense smelling confrontation the perfumer skipped away like nothing was wrong. Kaze learned a valuable lesson that day, don't make the Ultimate Perfumer mad, she had weapons of mass destruction hidden in that perfume pouch of hers. Though if spritzing people and making them heave was how she coped with this situation Kaze wouldn't judge as long as nobody actually got hurt. Kaze finally recovered from the attack on his olfactory senses and stood back up, beginning his walk to the Dining Hall once again, noticing that as he walked down the streets things hadn't changed at all. Well at least the Monokubs hadn't done any further redecorating to his sacred Ultimate City.

As he walked past the Hospital on his way to the restaurant he heard the door open and saw exiting the building was Kiaria, the violinist holding her beloved instrument in one hand, the other holding a stack of bandages. She turned and then let out a gasp, dropping the bandages in her hand as her right hand went to her mouth in surprise. "Kaze, you have regained consciousness! Oh I was bringing these to help Tsukasa and Yuki, they thought you may have needed more."

Kaze sighed not even bothering to re-apply his bandage, feeling the trickle of the liquid falling down his neck he turned around and showed her the wound on the back of his head "Actually I could use a patch up." As much as it pained him to admit it, he needed the help with this, and Kiaria let out a small gasp again and quickly picked back up the bandages, rushing over to apply fresh ones to his wound.

"You know… this is how some people become friends and eventually even more in my romance novels.." Kiaria had a blush on her face as she patched up his wound, and Kaze's eyes widened. Oh no she was talking about her romance novels again, last time this happened he ended up with an unexpected fiancé. He had to change the subject and fast

"So Kiaria… how did you sleep last night? I hear I was out for the entire night so I'm curious how your first night here was." Luckily for him this distracted her before he ended up in some strange love triangle he in no way started.

"Oh my first night was fine, a bit scary but I decided to play my violin to calm myself down." She sighs a bit romantically as she lets a smile come across her face "When I opened my window to get some fresh air I was pleasantly surprised to see others open theirs, I think my music was helping to calm them down as well."

And Kaze let a small half-smile come to his face, finding satisfaction in hearing her find a way to cope, for when the Ultimates in his city are succeeding and happy he himself was also happy. "Well that is splendid to hear, I remember hearing your music in the park, it seems like you have a serious talent and love for music."

Kaze feels a slight pinch as she applies the wound tighter to his head, a wince coming to his face but the moment passes. "Yes, all I need to do is grip my violin and close my eyes and I imagine myself in the symphony halls of my fantasy."

Kaze felt an eyebrow raise "Fantasy?" He assumed that Ultimates did that all the time, like it was just a part of their natural lives to always attend those halls and put their talents on display for all to see.

Kiaria paused for a moment before quickly finishing up the bandage job on his wound. "Oh did I say fantasy? No I mean uh… well in my fantasy I uh… what I meant to say is…." Her sweating began to intensify "... Hey look over there!" And then she made a run for it despite Kaze not turning his head at all. Well that was awkward, but Kaze wasn't going to pursue it further if she didn't want to say anything, plus she did fix up his bandages so it was the least he could do not to chase after her.

He saw her disappear into the restaurant so he quickly began to walk over there himself, not wanting to keep anybody waiting. However as he headed towards the restaurant and found himself near the entrance he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. He turned around and suddenly saw Shino standing there, against the side of the building watching the entrance… and Kaze had absolutely no idea what he was doing there, so of course he walked over and saw the dirty looking kid watching the entrance silently "Um Shino… what are you doing?" He asks as his eyes narrowed at the man, not. Very keen of somebody just observing everybody as they walked in.

"..." It seemed like for a moment Shino had nothing to say "I just wanted to ensure that everybody made it safely, if I don't walk in last something bad could happen."

"... Excuse me?" Kaze had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

Shino just nodded, his expression not changing at all "I don't want to have somebody painfully stub their toe, or have a light fall onto them when they walk in… to make sure I will stand and watch, like a lamp post." Kaze stared at Shino for a moment and in that moment he did see the similarities between Shino and a lamp post, both silent and stalwart observers, not intermixing themselves into situations but instead watching and waiting… and then after he finished making those comparisons he also drew the line that just watching everybody wasn't acceptable, everyone had to participate and try to make the best of this situation for themselves and the Ultimate City, and Shino just standing around could be seen by the others as just beyond creepy. And just when he turned back to address this to Shino… he noticed that he was gone.

Well that was something that a light post couldn't do, and Kaze let out an angry and annoyed sigh, returning him to the same mood he was in before he was in the shower. This was however fitting since now he was about to enter the Restaurant, which was where everyone else was. There were those that he didn't mind facing again, but then there were those that openly disregarded his name from his rightful status as head of the Ultimate City, a title he was trained his entire professional career to hold and now after one outburst it was ripped away from him, putting the city in the hands of another. Deku, Kerria, kind of Satoshi… especially Takeshi and Yuki, to which he needed to find out what their reasonings for their actions were. With that at the forefront of his mind, he entered the restaurant intent on getting a resolution to this issue.

Kaze ready himself has he gave one finally look up to the roof of the building, those non able to see it now, but knowing just lurking above everyone head was the bomb was enough. He then walks into the diner finally. The small sound of a bell echoes out as Kaze entered the restaurant, and one by one all forms of conversation died the moment it rang out. While Kaze looked over everyone he finally got a good look at the diner which had several booths lining the walls as many diners had and of course bar stools at the counters which lead to the back. The place seems cleaner then he recalls back when he originally visited it like it had been wiped down and the dust had been removed. He took a few steps forward having his finger wipe the seat closest to him raising it up seeing it was true no dust to be found. Curious.

Finally The Inquisitor faces the other ultimates. His eyes immediately locked upon the cop who was at a bar stool, stereotypically with a donut in one of his hands and some coffee in the others. Takeshi and Kaze's eyes locked and there is a brief pause as he closes his eyes and looks away. Kaze's eye linger before they continue on his hawk like gaze. Sitting next to Takeshi was Kaori her eyes linger to Kaze as the Inquisitor looks over to the first booth that housed Kiaria who was trying to get her violin tuned, next to her painting on a napkin was Tsukasa though she did take a moment to look over at Kaze and finally with them was Noburu, which was slightly odd although that booth was the one closest to the body guard so maybe it was just for proximity. Next to them at the next booth over was Tomomi she along with Tokuku, Kerria and finally Kaoru seem to have gathered together.

A loud bang caught his ears as he looks over at the counter, behind said counter was the creature actor who was trying to get some plates out of a cabinet where one seem to have slipped out of his grasp. Sitting on the stool watching Kyojin was Haruna, although both of their attentions soon return to Kaze, and with a roll of his eyes he looked over as the next booth closest to him which was housing Chi, Deku and Daichi. He wasn't really surprised the 3 trouble makers were sitting together. Daichi gave a small wave when he saw Kaze's gaze was on him. The last booth with people was Takara and Wutaru, and Takara not reading the mood felt the need to speak up.

"Oh, oh oh Inquisitor I am so happy your alive, we all thought you died!" She smiles waving quickly, despite the Paleontologist trying to stop her from making this any more awkward then it had to be.

"Thought I died, interesting." The top hat wearing protector flashes a look towards his attacker, making Takeshi's eyes narrow a bit knowing what Kaze was implying.

"Oh don't you dare start this now Kain. I did what..." Takeshi was readying himself for a war of words with the Inquisitor but just then...

DING!

Kaze perked up and so did the rest, his eyes focusing as he looks over to the left of him as Yuki walks in she looks over at everyone in the room. "Morning" she said simply as if nothing was wrong. The red cloaked man's eyes never left her frame as she casually walks by him, his gaze lingering on the memozier as she went and took a seat at the empty booth.

"..." Kaze opens his mouth to speak.

"Good everyone is here" Shino says to the side of the first booth

"OH BY THE LOVE OF..." Noboru screams as Kiaria and Tsukasa scream before the 3 of them look over at the ?. "How do you even do that?"

Kaoru looks over to Shino and raises a questioning eyebrow "where the heck have you been you hobo? Have you been picking out of the trash?"

Shino looks over and address her. "Simply put I was waiting for everyone else to enter out of precaution cause you see if someone enters last after me something bad might..."

The door slams open making everyone jump in shock at the loud bang, except for the Inquisitor and the memorizer of course, although the actor had the most dramatic reaction tossing his cup of juice he was trying to make for himself flying before landing on the lap of none other than the director.

"Like the great Lightria the legendary of my Bageature deck I come when no one else expects it." Standing in the doorway was Satoshi as he spins around, pulling out his cards from his pockets. "I see launching a surprise attack has stunned my opponents into silence...perfect. Now if you'll excuse me the card master of illusions needs his soy milk coffee!"

After taking one step into the diner, Satoshi found his toe slamming into the side of a booth. "AH I FELL FOR A TRAP CARD" Leaping up onto one foot the collector held his injured toe before jumping up back and forth, Kaze taking a step aside as the card master whimpers in pain before his one leg he was leaping upon found its way towards the spilled juice which knocked him off balance and made his head cream into the booth, thoroughly knocking him out.

Silence was all that paraded in the room now all staring at the now unconscious card master. With the distant mutter of Shino was heard "...god dangit"

Kaoru if not to only add to the situation "All hail one of our choices for our glorious leader!"

Kaze slowly step over Satoshi as Kyojin and Haruna help the knocked out member of the survivors as he slowly walks over to the booth farthest to the back away from everyone. Kaze sat down kicking his legs up and putting his feet on the table.

Then silence reign over the diner after that little skirmish of personalities just clashed and now there was nothing but silence. The silence only lasted for another moment before festivities returned to how they were, though he had a feeling it was a lot more hushed then it was originally, however Kaze's well trained ears could pick up on these conversations regardless. His eyes wandered over to the table of Kerria, Tokaku, Kaoru, and Tomomi, although Kaoru was getting up to go get herself some breakfast and Tomomi seemed very absorbed in her journal, her tongue sticking out slightly as she hyper-focused on what she was writing down.

Kerria looked over to her friend Tokaku as they sat at what they could consider the girl's table, the hypnotist returning the look as the two girls began to discuss what was going on "My what dissension, to think this was all caused by one little outburst by a certain man, who still won't let me get my precious desires from the store by the way." She says this in a tone that made Kaze think she could tell he could hear them.

"Oh come now Kerria, things aren't that bad. We're safe and well even though people may not know where Kaze stands on things and we all are a bit nervous, but compared to them trying to make us murder each other no I think we are doing just fine."

Kerria nodded a bit smiling over to her "Yes I suppose, our situation isn't perfect but it could be worse, we could be out in the despair filled world of The Tragedy, where we are left unsure if we will be ripped apart and if every day will be our last." She puts her hand to her mouth "Oh I suppose that was a bad example."

Tokaku seemed to want to change the subject so she said. "What were you trying to get from the store anyway?"

Kerria smiles as she remembers fondly the objects of her desire "Oh they had some wonderfully designed clothing in there, a roguish red scarf that would go great with this open corset held together by fishnets and lace, it would be a wonder to where in the summertime." Kerria looked over as Tokaku was completely engrossed in the mental image that presented itself, her eye glazing over slightly and a small but visible line of drool escaping her lips s she imagined Kerria in the summertime in that outfit.

"Oh my…" She shook her head regaining her senses "Oh I see that uh… well if you need help getting those outfits I can definitely uh, help you with that."

Kerria didn't even bat an eye at her strange behaviour, actually seeing thee benefit in having a friend like Tokaku "Why yes, that would be lovely."

SPRITZ

"AHHHH!" The hypnotist fell into her booth as Kaoru looked over the little seat, a perfume bottle in her right hand and a stack of pancakes in the other.

"I got my breakfast and you looked dazed, so I thought I would help with my "Wake Up and Smell the Skunkweed" perfume. Effective right?" Well she was certainly awake as Kerria's hand went back too her mouth in her surprised reaction pose, whether or not she was surprised or trying to hold back a laugh well one couldn't tell.

Seeing Tokaku and Kerria have this conversation and getting as much out of that as he could, plus they seemed to be busy with Tokaku temporarily being, well…skunked. Kaze turned his attention over to the next table, housing the three troublemakers of Daichi, Orochi, and Deku, and yet Daichi was nowhere to be seen, probably cleaning himself up after the juice was spilled onto him.

Orochi looked over at the thief across from him "So all we have to do to get out of here is kill someone right? Ok let's just kill one of three cows, like Haruna nobody would miss her."

Deku however shook his head, lying down on the booth seat and putting his feet up on the upholstery "No it doesn't work like that, well not immediately. We don't just sacrifice someone and we all go free, no we need to kill someone ourselves and don't get caught. And take it from someone who has to sneak for a living, it isn't easy."

Orochi seemed to catch on a little bit "ooooh, well shit that makes things harder… oh idea why don't we just kill half the people here! 9 girls and 1 guy, maybe that Satoshi creep he's weird. That way we get out and if it doesn't work out well we still have one girl to make the world continue! It's like a dating sim we just make her fuck every-"

Deku held up his hand from his spot on the bench "Lemme stop ya right there alright. First of all, ew, and second of all, why? Lastly, and most importantly, no. You wanna kill someone go right ahead, but people here are smart and you… aren't. You'll get sloppy, you'll get caught, and if you get caught you die." He looks up his eyes peeking over as he gave the boy a smirk "And that would be a shame to lose such a little scrapper like you."

Orochi got red in the face "Now wait a minute is that a threat you little-"

Deku lifted himself up as the small thief pressed his finger against Orochi's lips, a coy little smile imprinted on his devious face "No it isn't a threat you adorable little troll… it'd be a promise. So don't go doing anything stupid because I'd hate to see your cute little ass hanging from a noose." He pats Orochi's cheek thoroughly putting a scare into the boy "But hey if it helps I'd miss ya, I mean so many people here are too serious. You, Satoshi, even Haruna to an extent… it's nice to have some funny people here to keep us remembering we're still alive." Deku turned his head in a cheeky manner, pracically climbing backwards over the booth to look back over the booth to look back at Kaze "Ain't that right Inquisitor? I mean think about it, if you're our source of entertainment we'd all have croaked long ago… but hey you're funny in your own way. So how about you listen in on somebody else's conversations for a bit ok?" With that he returned back to his seat, Deku looking across to the now startled Chi Sakamoto.

Kaze tried his hardest to turn away from the thief who he supposed in his own way helped the game designer by getting him not to do something stupid, which Kaze appreciated, he might even admit a little impressed, he was a wily one he was. He turned his attention now over to the table housing the rambling Satoshi who was only slightly conscious but in the process of waking himself up, thank goodness for that not bing worse, as well as Kyojin and Haruna who were looking over him.

"So… you like monster movies right?" Asked the movie reviewer trying to find something to talk about, Satoshi's head curled up into her lap as he was rambling about some Green Eyed Wyvern or something, she didn't know, and she was trying to ignore the fact of how warm he was and if he didn't stop scorching up on her leg she'd have to smack him.

And where one weirdo lied, another would lie in wait. "Monster movies? Do I watch them… nooo I AM THEM!" He then jumped up onto his seat and extended his arms real wide like he was trying to make himself look bigger than he was "Raaaaawwwwrrrrr! I am Monstro and I will devour your soul!"

Haruna couldn't help but feel a certain uneasiness in her heart, his performance despite the fact that he had nothing on to disguise his childish nature filling her body with fear almost by instinct like it was trying to protect herself from this foreign source of fear. "Oh that was uh from…" her hands went to her sides like she was holding herself to stop some chills. "From Night of Monstro right? That flick from 8 years ago, March 12th right?" Her memory coming into play, it wasn't nearly as good as Yuki's she could only remember movies that she has personally reviewed but still rather impressive

Kyojin sat down back onto the bench, well it was more of a kneeling position as he licked his hand and then rubbed it against his forehead like he was cleaning himself. "Yup, I'm proud of that one, they filmed it right through my birthday and everybody made me the best peanut butter chocolate cake! I had leftovers stuck in my fur for weeks!"

Haruna opened her mouth to say something but then realized she had absolutely nothing to say, putting her elbow against the table as Kyojin went on about how it was so fun to play the monster and run around devouring people's souls with a mouth full of cake, her head resting into her palm boredly as she pretended to listen, the occasional outburst from the card collector cutting through her thoughts and HEY WHERE IS HE SNUGGLING?

"MY LIFE POINTS!" The card collector shrieked as he was smacked on the forehead by Haruna. This was where Kaze decided to stop tuning in to them as well, he felt like they wouldn't have had much to contribute, and looked over to Kiaria and Tsukasa, the two girls seeming to have formed a decent friendship with one another as they looked at each other and talked about boys… this one Kaze decided to skip because he feared what they would be talking about, well mostly Tsukasa. His gaze then went past the bystander who was sitting alone in his booth, observing the public likely trying not to let his mere presence lead to any more accidents, and Kaze decided to let him be, he wasn't going to force him to join in if he did not wish to. He noticed as he passed by where Wataru and Takara were sitting that well…. they weren't sitting there any more. He wondered where they went although his focus quickly shifted over to where the bar stools were.

That was where he saw them, Kaori, Takeshi, and Yuki, three of the people whom it seemed the city had deemed worthy of their praise and those who were told they should be leader instead of him. It frustrated Kaze and yet he didn't think the selections they picked were inadequate, just that he was molded for this job, and now these three were lining up to take his job and lead the city in his stead.. the city needed him now more than ever and he was already deemed a failure for one simple mistake. It boiled inside of him for a moment as he looked at Yuki, the woman who came up with this idea and said he wasn't able to do his job properly anymore, and Takeshi the man who beaned him over the back of the head with a piece of rubble. He had no qualms with Kaori, the stoic protector who had Noboru practically serving her breakfast as he went to join her, granted she didn't exactly eem like she asked for him to do that but hey she wouldn't say no to a plate full of protein. For once, Kaze couldn't actually tell what they were saying, the distance from his booth to the bar and their rather hushed tones made it difficult for even him to detect, his focus dead set on trying to listen in but he was interrupted by a hand waving in front of his face.

"Yoo-hoo Mr. Inquisitor! If you're ignoring me say something, and if you're there say nothing."

Kaze turned to see what was going on "Huh?"

Takara's hand went to her heart like she was hurt, a small frown crossing her face "Oh so he is ignoring me… awwwweeee."

Wataru sat next to her and felt like he needed to help her out"Uh Takara I think you didn't give the setup right, he can't exactly ignores you if he says something."

Takara looked over a bit confused before she went "Ohhhh… I don't get it." To which Wataru facepalmed into his head , letting it run down his face before he looked over at Kaze. So he had guests now.

"You seemed like you could use some company… Takara's idea." Elaborated Wataru as the museum curator waved her hand icily, a cheery smile on her face.

"Yeah you seemed like you needed some cheering up so I figuredwhynotcomeovertotryand-" Kaze put his hand up prematurely to cut off Takara's ramblings

"Thank you but if it's all the same I would rather be alone." The Inquisitor felt the need to say this although Takara frowned noticing something.

"Well then how come Daichi gets to sit here?"

Kaze raises an eyebrow in confusion "What do you mean, Daichi isn't-" he then felt somebody straightening up his hat as he looked up seeing that the director had planted himself next to Kaze making sure it was nice and straight. "... oh so he is." He sighed and relented "Ok do as you wish." He looks over at Daichi "When did you get here anyway?"

Daichi smiles and just continues to do what he is doing "Oh I slipped by while you were deep in thought, you looked so lost in thought that I didn't want to disturb you." He backed up slightly in his seat and looked up checking to make sure the hat was straight, and when he was content he smiled wider and put his hands into his lap. "There you are, looking dapper as ever."

Kaze stared at Daichi for a second longer because well.. that's all he could think to do for how else could he react to Daichi honestly. He leaned back into his booth and closed his eyes just trying to take everything in at this point. "So… what do you think of me?" He asked that so suddenly he didn't really think it through or how fair this was but he just had to hear… something about this.

Wataru's eyes widened a bit making him scotch uncomfortably back and forth in. His seat, however Takara clapped her hands quickly having the widest smile on her face "Oh I thought you'd never ask. Well you're really tall and I like your shaggy look, it makes you look handsome but not supermodel handsome, but that's ok because not everyone can be a supermodel. Also I really like your cape and hat it really fits with your title of Inquisitor. That's a super interesting title by the way because Inquisitors were originally made to silence heretics to the Catholic religion, we have a super cool exhibit of them in my personal museum and by personal museum I mean my room so ifyoueverwanttocomeandseeityoushouldtotallycomebyand-"

Daichi however actually reached over and put a palm over her mouth, much to her surprise and Wataru's shock and slight annoyance, effectively silencing the curator with a small frown imprinted on his face "Be quiet now, what he meant was how do you view him as our leader and as an Inquisitor, even a baked critic on Feedbuzzard could know that."

Wataru took a deep breath and gently took Daichi's wrist, moving his hand off of Takara's mouth before he decided to speak. "Well I personally think you were uh… well…." He looked down at the table "I think you were really good for the Ultimate City… at least I think so."

Kaze felt himself deflate a little bit, his eyes going upward towards the ceiling as he reclined back in his seat. "You… think so?"

Wataru pressed his hand to his ear a bit, his face contorting into some discomforting grimace "Ow… sorry when I think too hard it… nevermind. What I was saying was I remember my time in the Ultimate City and you helped to keep things safe but then… things get fuzzy after I think too hard. I can't really remember much after my first couple weeks or so living here. " Kaze was about to comment on that but then Takara cut in herself.

"Yeah like I wasn't sure if it was just me but I can't remember much either. Like I remember the first month or two but things start to get a bit fuzzy."

Daichi felt the need to chime in as well "Yes even I must admit after a while of trying to recall everything I haven't come up with much after about… living here for maybe three months.

Three months… that number seemed to stick out to Kaze. For him the actual construction effort of the city was a much longer process, a process him and a select few Ultimates had worked for a long time on, though what would have taken years upon years for a standard set of people to make the actual construction effort of the city with the Ultimates in tow and the Board of Talent it only took them a grand total of six months to make their dream a reality, to make the Ultimate City a hospitable place for Ultimates to be able to preserve the idea of Hope for generations. But he was right, after three months of actually accepting his role and being a part of the city his memories just… stopped. All he remembered was going to bed one night after a long day of work, he felt like he remembered something was bothering him but then his memories just faded away. Everything went fuzzy, and no matter how hard he tried and strained himself he couldn't remember what happened after that, or if there was anything after that at all. This made Kaze's head hurt even trying to recall anything after that period, he could see why Wataru was having trouble with things. But still, was the Ultimate City really only standing for three months? For some reason Kaze couldn't believe that, but maybe that was just his hope.

He then heard the tapping of a glass, as standing up of all people was Kaori. The entire restaurant turned to face the bodyguard as she stood at her full height standing over the entirety of the sitting diner patrons. "Hello everyone, good morning, I hope you have enjoyed your breakfast." To which a couple of the patrons smiled at the warm approach from the usually silent bodyguard, but soon she went right back to business. "Yesterday, we were told some troubling news and we woke up in a place that is unrecognizable…" she seemed to squirm a bit, almost out of discomfort like she didn't really like giving speeches.

So Takeshi stood up next to her and decided to take it from there. "Thanks for gettin me started Kaori, if you don't mind I'll cut in." To which Kaori nodded and sat down actually quite content with being able to keep her role as a silent protector. "Yeah like she said apparently we're all a part of this thing now, and this shit sucks I ain't even gonna try to sugar coat that. A bear and his "kubs" think they're just gonna lay down some sort of law and make us all freak out and go kill crazy." He crosses his arms and looks over at Kaze, a glare crossing the officer's face "And for some of us it appears to have worked." Kaze felt himself lean forward in his seat, watching the cop but decided not to step forward, it would be best to not make a scene after what happened yesterday.

Takeshi cleared his throat loudly for a moment before he continued as if to accentuate his point. "Now, here's what we gotta do… we gotta fight this but we also gotta not be dumb about it. They may got us put in this city and they may say we need to kill each other but… why should we? We ain't brainless, we leave the city we ain't goin anywhere where murder isn't already the law of the land. So what we gotta do is start making ground rules, first things first, we-"

And it was at this point Deku got up and sat at the edge of his table, his legs crossing over each other and his hands put into a pyramid, his fingers aligning with each other at the tips of them. "Oh now Takeshi, don't you think you know are getting ahead of yourself… officer?"

Takeshi turned to the thief with anger in his eyes " What was that pipsqueak?"

Deku didn't flinch at all at the insult hurled at hi by the cop. "Oh simple, you're talking about them "laying down the law" but what are you doing but the same exact thing? Don't you think it's a bit early? What with Ms. Memorizer suggesting the election tomorrow that we all agreed on. In fact she personally selected the candidates did she not?"

Almost as if on queue just hearing him say that had Yuki nod and speak out with "Candidates, Kaori Moriya, Takeshi Kagohara, Satoshi Yugimoto, and myself Yuki Hashimoto. Voting time is during breakfast morning meeting at 10 a.m, everybody must vote in the ballot box which shall be made by Tsukasa and Tokaku, it will be 3 feet talll and 2.7852 feet wide with a slit in the middle of exactly 2 inches and a diameter of .940234 niches wide."

After that statement Kaze felt himself stand up, standing straight in his seat as his hands came crashing down on the table in another small emotional outburst, and why shouldn't he be angry after finding out all this about the Ultimate City just the day before and now Yuki, somebody he trusted not only effectively fired him but was also rewarding his attacker. "You…. YOU were the one who made the ballot?"

Yuki "..." she was silent for only a moment before she finished her statement "Yes."

Kaze felt himself moving forward, not out of malicious intent or at least he didn't think so, Kaori and Takeshi looking over ready to intervene if necessary when suddenly. Even when you don't think things can't get any worse…

You receive a wake up call

"RISE AND SHINE URSINE!"

 **Oh this will be interesting I wonder what will happen. Who knows, also you like the monokuma theater that will now be happen in the beginning of every chapter. Also I know some characters are not getting as much screen time has others but don't worry the others will be getting a time to shine very soon. Until then.**

 **So long bear well.**


	6. Rough, Tough and Gruff First Day

**Ok everyone we are sorry that this chapter took so long and honestly I find it funny how we did say we try to get this chapter out quickly and it took us 3 months. I know but many like personal stuff that caused us off an of course we had a few minors writers block but we are fine and everything is fine I hope you guys all like and this is our longest chapter yet. Also we have a finally have the polls set, which was fun. Also check out my co writers profile dimentioman97 where he as his own poll up for you guys to vote, and I will have a new poll up soon enough.**

Monokuma Theater

Elections are a joke nowadays aren't they? And not the funny kind of jokes like the ones where people fall and break their legs so we all point and laugh at them, no they're like the types of jokes your dad tells you when he takes you out to the bowling alley with your friends. And speaking of bowling you know what I hate, bowling shoes! They're always too tight on my claws and they constrict my toes, and I always fall and land on my cute furry butt and I end up rolling into the pins instead of my ball! And one day I got put into the slider instead, and was transported to the secret underground world of pins, I even met the Kingpin! His daughter was having a very beautiful wedding and so he said I could have anything I wanted, so that's how I got the rainbow trout that I've asked for for Christmas since I was a kid, but all I got was a bunch of crummy bottled water. I can buy that at the store Santa! You know Santa reminds me a lot of politicians actually, he's bribing you with something good just for being a decent person, almost like a tax on being a good little Kub, such a jerk taking advantage of kids like that, it's kind of admirable really. Why didn't I think of that? I could curb a generation of brats just like that!

And that's why you should never vote kids! Spite those politicians! Screw elections!

(End of Monokuma Theater)

"RISE AND SHINE URSINE!"

"So this is where all of our little citizens went too? Gha-ha ha"

In a puff of smoke a trick was performed, one that even now Kaze did not know how they were able to accomplish, but soon the 5 figures of the monokubs appeared one by one. Appearing on the very table Kaze has found himself along with Daichi, Takara and Wat, with a long pair of legs and even long hair, the former landing on Wataru's shoulder and the latter in Kaze's face was Monolisa.

Next appearing between Yuki and Kaori was the massive and dominating wall that was Monogruff his massive trunk like arms move and wrap themselves around both of the girls next to him, a loud gruff chuckle escaping his lips.

While in the table that is where the girls were is Monobabe plops down amongst them as she was sitting upon Kairia lap as a little girl would do to their mother, it was an almost innocent gesture.

On a stool closer to Shino than anyone else was Monomaxime with a small cup of what can only been assumed as tea or maybe something else that would be considered high society, wine maybe... or some sort of tea and Wine mixture… Tine.

Finally by the doorway as if to have a quick way to leave was Monoking, arms crossed together as he seemed to not want to be a part of this conversation as he leans against the wall saying nothing.

"What do you guys want?" The young perfumer known as Kaoru says in a overly high pitch voice that shows how much she disliked their presence.

Kaze could feel himself on edge, this is the first time he has seen the kubs since the… incident. It still played through his mind every minute or so, the images of the kubs standing over the statue of Jin Kirigiri, the beacon of hope himself while the maniacal bear laughed like a giddy schoolgirl. Just imagining it now made his body writhe with anger and made his vision go red, even now he was ready to lunge at them again although he knew now Kaori and Takeshi would never give him the chance.

Monogruff let out a loud almost beastial laugh as his large hand slammed into the bar in front of him, thoroughly annoying Yuki and having her scuttle away from his grasp. "Oh the prodigal son is mad to see us again! What's wrong little whelp? Still upset you snoozed while your precious city burned?!" He could just read Kaze's face, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes glared a hole into the large man's skull, and the way Kaze gripped the nearest thing available to him, which unfortunately for the attractive Monokub was her long golden locks making Monolisa shriek out in sharp pain.

"Hey hey hands off the merchandise! Only my most darling of brothers can be this rough with me!" After a few more seconds of not complying he let her go, her head snapping forward as she fell off the table, getting up and dusting herself off with a huff "Oh brother, why must you provoke them when I am in harm's way?"

Monogruff raises his hands in the air like he just did not care, which he didn't "Because it's fun! Come on sis no pain no punchline!"

Monomaxime let out a small little giggle of excitement, his pink mask almost falling off with his own amusement before he corrected himself "Come now Monogruff, not all of us are as burly and thick skinned and… coarse as you are." He started to sweat profusely just looking over at his big blue brother.

Monoking was off by the exit looking outside like he honestly just wanted to leave, but considering he was the one blocking the exit he figured he might as well stay, someone had to enforce them to listen to his siblings rag on about nothing… speaking of which.

"Hey you didn't answer us bearshit for brains! Why the hell are you all here?!" Yelled out Orochi, his finger pointing accusingly at the largest Monokub, to which Monolisa got up from her seat and aimed her hand… and proceeded to give a firm chop to the side of Orochi's neck "OOOWWWW! What the-" To which the yellow Monokub firmly shushed him

"Do not use such language while my sister is present," she says harshly but with that touch of sisterly care, making Monobabe get up from her seat and shake a little rattle at them.

"Yeah! I'm jus a wittle babeh!" The smallest Monokub stated her peace and it did make Orochi go quiet, though with a grumble as he held his neck.

Kaze at this moment seemed to have forgotten he was just about give Yuki a small piece of his mind and now had his attention focused on the kubs. He didn't know why they were here, probably in a attempt to somehow make their already miserable lives just a tad bit worse. Gruff chuckles, barely able to hold back the cackle that was about to come out from his mouth, the wide smirk on his face indicating something awful was about to happen for the Ultimates.

"Well ya little brats, I came here to tell you all who's in charge around here. As you all know Papi has put me in charge as the warden of this part of the city. So as my first act as commander of this area, I decree this, we have to keep all you talented talentless in shape!"" The monster of a man roared that last part seeming to get exited at the thought of hard labor."That is why Uncle Monogruff is going to whip you all into shape, so from this day forward at 3 PM, you guys will all come to the park where we are going to get those muscles of yours working."

Orochi rolls his eyes leaning back "Yeeeah, i don't really do that exercise stuff, so I am going to pass."

Monogruff nodded and says this in response "Of course you can pass, but if you pass all you have to do is go a round with me in the ring," and to make a point he grab the bar stool that the memorizer was using, and with sheer muscle and power slowly begins to bend the metal bar of the stool.

Orochi watches as the blue one bent that stool, the look on his face quickly turning from one of stubbornness and defiance to one of concern and general blue faced worry. "You said 3 PM was it? Sure I would love to be there."

"Kind of amazing how all you have to do is threaten him with violence and he becomes actually quite respectful." Haruna spoke which Chi didn't see the need in retorting to her.

"Yes it is an excellent parenting technique that our father taught us, and look we came out fine!" Monomaxime looks over and smiles "wouldn't you agree Takeshi?"

Takeshi snaps over a bit too quickly "What's that supposed to mean you pink freak?!"

Monomaxime lets out a small almost sinister chuckle "Oh… nothing, nothing at all my dear policeman."

Kiaria looks down at the smallest of the monokubs sitting on her lap and says "so did you guys only come here to cause trouble?" Which her question was received by most of the kubs nodding their heads.

"You see honestly we expected one of your freaks to kill one another by now, sadly you guys seem to be quite boring." Monolisa spoke.

"Hey where is the green one, Monoboss I think his name is?" Kiaria looks around noting the absence of one of the kubs.

"What are you talking about, he's been here all along. Who do you think has been cooking your food?" The tall blue kub smirks.

"Yeah ya ungrateful little bastards, I'm taking you off those hippie, no carbs diet of yours and stopping your need of the uneeded food groups… like fruit. Here's the basic food groups, meat, diary, spaghetti, whatever an onion and garlic is and beer!" Lurching his massive frame from the kitchen was Monoboss screeching at the top of his lungs as he slams down a plate of eggs that for some reason was bathed in marinara sauce and had sliced onion all over it. This caused many of the citizens to make a horrid face at the creation of whatever Monoboss considered culinary genius.

Takara looked down at her plate and made a small "ohhhh" sound. "So that's why there were garlic noodles on my toast… I thought it was just a new type of breakfast sandwich.

Deku looks at the door "And on that note I think I should take my leave." Many of the others agreed with the thief, not feeling the need to be in the same room as their kidnapping kubs. It would be an abrupt ending to the meeting sure but after that they didn't really want to stick around with them and their particular brand of eccentric behaviour

Monogruff stood up "ok ya brats you can leave, however first things first, it's time for us to decide which one of you will be staying with us tonight.

That didn't sit right with Kaze as the inquisitor looked upon the kubs, their insanity if not obvious could be felt radiating off their bodies as Gruff pulled out a massive spin wheel with the faces of each one of the citizens on it.

"What do you mean staying with you tonight?" The top hat wearing ultimate moved towards them.

"Umm… you did read the rules right" Pulling out the small monopad, Monomaxine smiles and says "See right here rule 4, in lame man terms, every other night we snatch one of your delicious young citizens to come to our place and well… clean up" His smile widens slightly.

"Oh he ain't wying, we don't wike cweaning, so we get one of you to do it!" Monobabe cheers squirming on Kiaria lap.

Takara gasps loudly "That sounds very irresponsible!"

Chi rolled his eyes "Yeah cause that the issue in all this."

Noboru looks over at the bodyguard "Kaori, I don't like this at all."

Tomomi stood up and stares at them, a look of defiance in her eyes "Fine let's make this easy for everyone, I volunteer as tribute." Despite the confident outburst she then bit down on her pen nervously.

Tokaku gasped, her eyes quickly filling with concern for the journalist. "Tomomi you can't, not with those savages!"

Kaze turned quickly "Tomomi stand down, there's no need to sacrifice yourself, no one is going with them."

The thief looks over at him "And you're going to stop them? What, you got another knife in your pocket?"

Kaori stepped in before the inquisitor and the thief could get at each other. "Tomomi they are right, don't worry I will volunteer."

"There's no point" Yuki spoke neutrally from her spot, some of the other survivors giving her a questioning look "If they wanted a volunteer they would have asked for one, they are going to pick someone regardless of what we decide… am I wrong?"

The kubs only stare at her in silence, as it was the silent King who spoke "Yes..." he walks over and spins a wheel that Monogruff seemed to pull out of the ether, because we know anyone with Monokuma's style of abilities can just kind of do.

All of the Ultimates stare at the wheel in a mixture of shock and horror as the wheel spun around before the wheel finally stopped dead on upon an orange hair picture, signaling who had to go first.

Daichi looks over "Oh a plot twist!" he smiles and says "Not like i have a choice but I accept."

"Daichi you don't need to do this, I will make sure they..." Kain begun however he was stopped as Daichi walks over to him and sends a wink his way.

"Oh no need to worry about me Kaze, though it is appreciated. However, as they say, dem the rules and best not push them at the moment. Besides don't worry I will be fine" He turns and claps at the rest of the Ultimates gathered there. "I think breakfast is done, until later everyone, that is a wrap." With that Daichi made his way out, somehow still commanding an aura of professionalism and control as he walked, the monokubs following behind him with Monogruff at the head watching him to try to soak in his despair, for that night he would be their personal maid and yet they would be disappointed when they would soon discover Daichi had no despair to be found.

"SO LONG! BEAR-WELL"

Except for Monoboss who just peeked out from behind the kitchen counter and then continued to cook as though nothing was wrong. "Hey if I don't cook I don't get paid… wait am I even gettin paid for this? Well I guess I am gettin paid in despair…. huh? Din't really think this far."

Kaori watched them go and then crossed her arms "So, they are now taking us one at a time for who knows what? This place continues to be difficult."

Takara always being the optimist "Yeah but we'll see him again tomorrow so it won't be so bad… right?"

Wataru tried to support her, the poor little guy forcing a shaky smile as he blurts out "Y-yeah! Don't worry everyone things will be just fine. I doubt they would hurt him."

Deku lets a small playful little smirk come to his face "Yeah I mean wouldn't it ruin the fun for them if someone was just knocked out of the competition like that?You only leave two ways around here, with blood on your hands or in a bodybag, that seems to be what they want."

Kaoru scoffed in his direction "Well aren't you a ball of sunshine?" The perfumer feeling a little uncomfortable took a stepback

To which Deku retorted with "Am I wrong?" At the moment, nobody had anything to refute that with. They had only been caught up in this despair filled abomination of a ruined city and already everyone's mood was shifting towards that sense of hopelessness and regret, immediately robbed of all that youthful innocence they all had upon their first meeting with Kaze. The Inquisitor himself was even a bit stunned at what had transpired. He came to get answers, to try to unify everyone under the banner of the Ultimate City once again and yet not only did he find out he wasn't even on the ballot to be in charge, but that one person at random was going to be seperated from them every other night? Oh no could he… could he really not do anything? Was he unable to help stop the despair?"

"Hey why's everybody so down? It's only one night and we haven't even been here that long, we have time to figure everything out." Standing in the center of the room was Tomomi, her face alight with confidence and genuine hope. Standing behind her was Noboru and Kaori, the later of the two simply nodding her head in approval whilst Noboru was openly cheering for her and dumping what looked like small pieces of paper on her head that looked like confetti. Tomomi looked up curiously, an eyebrow raised in slight annoyance "Please don't do that."

The strange circus performer did back up slightly but kept his smile up "I'm still there in spirit, agreeing with your message in spirit and with spiritual confetti!"

Tomomi pulled out her camera and flashed it to them all as if to emphasize her point. "I am a journalist and do you know what that means? Making the world a brighter place by exposing all of the corruption and nastiness in the world and making sure the people are aware of it. Sure it may make them sad, and it may make them believe the world is always like this with all the bad stuff on the news, but it's all to make sure the world knows that the bad guy will never win, the truth will always be exposed!"

At this point Tokaku and Kerria had walked up to the center as well, the hypnotist taking a spot next to her and encouragingly placed a hand on her shoulder. Tomomi felt it and looked over with an acknowledging smile, which made Tokaku look away with a small blush spreading to her face. Kerria on the other hand did not lay a finger on Tomomi, appreciating her own personal space far too much but did take a spot next to her to show her support… possibly, it as hard to tell with her.

Satoshi after a moment finally seemed to grasp what was going on and leaped up towards the center, doing a very unnecessary spin in the air that almost resulted in him falling upon landing. "Ahahaha yes! She speaks the truth. I may not be an exemplary journalist but I am Satoshi Yugimoto, The Crimson Carded Warrior of Shih-Na Go! And like journalism, cards do require a lot of thought and effort and result in the most friendly competitions and cheers of junior competitors everywhere!"

Haruna walked past him, not even seeming to turn in his direction as he spoke. "Uh I'm not sure what you're talking about but every tournament I've ever seen is just some dorks throwing cards at each other, and how does that relate to hope again?"

If you were quiet enough, some would say you could physically hear Satoshi's ego deflate in that moment. "Well I thought it was inspiring…" He walked up with them trying to regain his composure.

Tomomi smiled seeing her friends one by one gather with her to stand united against this despair, showing that they weren't going to take this lying down. "So come on everyone, let's commemorate this great moment with a group photo worthy of the front page!"

Orochi stuck his nose up at this attempt at comraderie "I don't need to be put into this photo with a bunch of nerds and trashy women, I'm good."

From behind he felt a tap on his shoulder, and when the small boy turned around he came face to face with Kyojin's oni mask, the creature actor rearing up and seeming to take on a more deep, demented voice "Do it or I shall grind your bones into fine powder and use it to grease my war club!"

"EEEEEEEIIIIIIYYYYAAAAAHHHH!" Orochi shrieked as he quickly darted amongst the group running square into the middle to escape the terrifying creature before his gaze. Kyojin chuckled, and while Deku saw it and started laughing his ass off, Kyojin felt a gust of wind hit his ear and when he looked over Shino was there, tapping his foot "Was that truly necessary?" The strange ultimate questioned

Kyojin looks up with a curious look, removing his mask for a moment and putting it onto his back in a little holster "What? He was being a big ol party pooper."

Kaori walked past them both, a happy looking smile on her face "I thought it was appropriate, he was being a butt, respect." She made her way into the group putting on her special "Good Vibes" perfume, a scent somewhere between tropical fruit and margaritas.

Kyojin got onto all fours and you could swear his tongue was sticking out like a dog that just got rubbed by its owner after they returned from work. "I've been noticed! AAAWWOOOO!"He howled like a mad wolf and then still on all fours darted into the group.

Shino just watched this all happen and a heavy sigh escaped his lips, the dirty man walking over and practically dragging along Deku, who was on said ass he was still laughing off from earlier practically on the floor "Come along now, we have a picture to get into."

"HE'S SUCH A LITTLE COWARD! AHAHAHA!"

Wataru rubbed his arm awkwardly "I'm not sure about this Takara, I don't do well in pictures." He looked around for her for a couple moments before being curious when he couldn't find her "Takara?"

And as he found out a moment later she was already beelining it for the group yelling out "IWANNABBEINTHEFRONT!"The smaller paleontologist sighed and looked away for a moment, but joined his friend in the fray despite being uncomfortable.

"Alright, tall people in the back, shorter people in the front, you know how it goes." Tomomi was playing leader for the little impromptu photo shoot she was setting up for them. Kaze watched the activity and smiled, happy to see everyone finally get some hope instilled back into them when even he couldn't. Tomomi did just have that earnest enthusiasm and confidence radiating around her, it was refreshing to see in such a young and developed talent that plucky drive to want to succeed and make the world a better place, it reminded him of why he wanted to protect the Ultimate City and the talent within it in the first place.

"They seem happy." Yuki stated with such a star and monotone voice it even made Kaze jump slightly with surprise when he heard it right next to him. "This place, despair one moment and hope the next, trying to remember if it was always like this proves difficult… it bothers me."

Kaze however furrowed his brow into a small glare, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly to show his displeasure towards her "We need to have a talk about things later."

She didn't seem to pay him any mind, looking over towards the group in a way that hid her face from view of Kaze. She tilted her head to the side as if looking at something and trying to analyze it, and then her hand went to her temples in a grimace when she couldn't seem to recognize it, her head hurting almost instantly. Even though he was mad at her, Kaze felt his face light up with concern at the smallest amount of pain from his fellow Ultimate "Yuki are you-"

"Are you guys coming?" Asked Kiaria as she walked over, the violinist not knowing she was interrupting something as her curly locks moved past her face, a kind smile imprinted on it.

Yuki rubs her head slightly and then looks back at Kaze "... later." She nods In Kiaria's direction and headed out to join the group.

Kiaria looked back over at Kaze ""Does she seem a bit upset to you?"

Kaze took a long, deep breath and took a moment to gather his thoughts "She's likely just thinking about things, I know I have lately. Come, we should join them." Kiaria nods enthusiastically at that as she walked over with Kaze quickly to get in the picture

"Alright, everybody ready?" Tomomi asked as everybody crowded into the group, to which multiple people exclaimed their readiness to take this commemorative picture.

"Will you stop shoving?!" Angrily questioned Orochi

"Why am I in the front? Are you saying I'm short?" Kaoru says as she tapped her foot annoyed

"Children behave." Haruna said sternly as she looked over them, the two smaller ultimates looking away from each other and saying "Yes mom" at the exact same time.

Takeshi all the way in the back heard a splashing sound behind him so he turned to look at it "...what are you doing?" He asks the person not in her place, the dance painter Tsukasa happily skipping with her paintbrushes in hand.

Tsukasa exclaimed "I'm making a banner for the picture!" She seemed more than happy with herself, prancing around with her paintbrushes and just splattering paint against the wall with raw emotions as her mural.

Takeshi rolled his eyes, his arms crossing in an only slightly smug way "Tsukasa, I'm sure they appreciate it but you're not going to make a banner before we take the-"

"DONE!" She states happily as she then skips into her spot in the middle row, leaving Takeshi slightly confused until he saw the banner for himself and his mouth opened a bit in surprise.

"...Well how about that she is good." The police officer chuckles a bit to himself before Kaze took his place next to him, Takshi letting out a small growl in annoyance at the placement

… you know at some point we'll have to address the fact you hit me with a rock." Kaze said staring ahead for the camera

"I'd apologize if I thought I did anything wrong, I did what I had to do." Takeshi responds to him also staring ahead for the camera, the two men not even looking at each other in that moment but already knowing they had reached an impasse.

"Alright everyone! 3…2….1…."

SMILE! 

The flash went off and the picture was taken on Tomomi's automatic camera, immediately taking two more shots to ensure at least one of the photos was pure quality. Immediately after the shots were taken some of the more fidgety ultimates like Orochi, Kyojin, and Satoshi departed from the amassed group, while some of the more social creatures like Tsukasa and Takara stayed in the group to talk about their new-founded group friendship.

"Alright everyone thanks for that, we can all dismiss now but don't forget tomorrow we'll be taking our votes as per Yuki's request." Tomomi said with a big smile on her face and a happy inflection in her voice. Upon hearing that, Deku, Orochi, Kyojin, Haruna, Kaoru, Shino, and even Takeshi departed from the restaurant to go do their own things within the city.

Tomomi stared at the door for a moment, her hat sloping down slightly over her face conveying a small touch of unbelievability at that "Well I mean you could have at least said goodbye first."

Kerria put her fingers together and smiled at the group, her face lighting up after the events of today "Well this was nice, but I must take my leave. I do wish to scan the store again for strictly non-selfish reasons."

Takara gasped and her hands shook a bit "Non-selfish reasons!? Those are my favorite kind of reasons! I'll join you!" Kerria rolled her eyes as the museum curator followed after her

Noboru quickly took Kaori's hand "Yeah! And I'm going to make me and Kaori some nice chamomile tea so we can discuss election strategy!" He hurriedly tried to move into the kitchen with her, to which Kaori seemed less than enthused about.

"One, chamomile tea makes you tired. And two, I never agreed to discuss election plans." her arms crossed a bit looking at him.

Noboru pouts a bit, his hand that wasn't occupying Kaori's going to his hip in defiance "Well fine I'll make black tea. And we need to discuss election plans, we can make you the first President of the Ultimate City! Isn't that exciting?!"

Kaori stated very bluntly "Well there was likely a leader here before it went to-"

The FIRST I say!" He exclaims in his pure excitement "Now to the kitchen!" Kaori then decides it was best not to fight it and let him drag her away into the kitchen

Kaze smiled a bit seeing everyone start to make friends and regain their composure into a more hopeful state. He seemed to be in a much better place than this morning, and he had Tomomi to thank for it. He walked into her direction, the journalist writing something down in a small little notebook she had not seeming to notice his approach. He decided to be a gentleman and tap her shoulder so as not to startle her. She turned her head up, cutely looking back in the Inquisitor's direction and smiled a bit when she saw it was hi "Oh hey Kaze, feeling better?"

Kaze nodded his head, the smile on his face slightly brighter. "Yes of course I am, that was really well done how you got everyone to pose and be happy for a moment."

At the praise Tomomi tipped her hat down slightly, taking her small little pencil and biting on the end of it nervously "Yeah well it was nothing I just… thought I could help. Honesty I'm just glad everyone believed what I said about journalism connecting to hope, just spoke from the heart, ya know?"

"Well when you speak from the heart, people can usually sense that. It draws them towards a speech and a movement much more than a simple by the numbers speech anyone could give." Kaze continued to give her small little praise like that, Tomomi looking away almost shyly at that. "Is something wrong? 

Tomomi chuckles a bit turning back to face him "Oh no no no, nothing like that just when I usually submit stuff I get a well, standard thank you and a paycheck. Aside from like awards and stuff I've never really gotten praise for my work, but even that isn't exactly personal."

Kaze frowns slightly upon hearing that "Well that is truly a shame, because if that is the type of emotion you can inspire just by simply pouring your heart and soul into your work, then you should be praised every day for what you do."

Tomomi felt a small red hue come to her cheeks just from the way her work was being appreciated and talked about "Awe, thanks Kaze. That means a lot especially coming from the almighty Inquisitor himself." She giggles a bit at her own comment.

After a moment of silent happiness between the two, the hypnotist Tokaku walked up to them, mostly Tomomi, and said ""Hey Tomomi, me and Kiaria wanted to know if you wanted to go get lunch?"

Tomomi looked over and gave her usual bright and cheerful smile "Oh yes I would be delighted to, perhaps Kaze could join us?"

Tokaku's eyes widened and a small blush formed on her face "Oh uhhhh… we were kind of hoping it would be a "just us girls" thing you know he he… he he, please…" She said trying hard not to sound too desperate there

Kaze smiled a bit at her strange antics but said "You ladies go right ahead, I'll just patrol the city like I usually do when I have my own time." Tomomi looked back in his direction but let a smile come back to her face, so she turned back to Tokaku and nodded, a happy squeal escaping the hypnotist's lips as they quickly left the restaurant to likely find a more private spot in the park to eat.

Kaze turned around to see if anyone else was around, especially a certain pale memorizer but it seems she departed while he was talking to Tomomi. He growled to himself in frustration, not seeming to get a chance to have that one on one conversation with her and it was starting to get annoying. Perhaps Wataru or even his "wife" Tsukasa (which he still was trying hard not to even entertain that idea) was around. He looked around for them in the restaurant, and just in time to hear "Tsukasa no! You can't use my fossils in your little street painting." The paleontologist seemed to be chasing around the dance painter in circles around the outside of the restaurantas she seemed to be twirling around with two small little rock colored objects in her hands, perhaps not even hearing him in her own little world.

"These things could be really pretty if i paint them blue… no red! purple maybe? Or green. Maybe orange… ah I'll just color them everything!" She exclaimed as she was skipping off, Wataru trying hard to chase after her but couldn't keep up with the semi-athletic dance painter.

"NO! Think of the historical value! THE HISTORICAL VALUE!" Poor Wataru.

Well Kaze for the first time since he woke up finally seemed to have some time to himself, some "free time" if you will. Perhaps he would sit down and just contemplate, or go back to his house and finish off that mystery novel he had been working on, or maybe even get a drink from the kitchen and a sandwich and just relax in the grass of the park. Perhaps-"

"Inquisitor! I have matters of which to speak with you!" He turned around, his thoughts forcibly being knocked away from him as the bold and brash card collector approached him. Oh right Satoshi… he forgot about Satoshi.

Kaze let out a small sigh but maybe the company would be appreciated. He was having a bit of a long day already even though it had just barely hit noon but perhaps he could turn this around. He said in a reserved way "Yes Satoshi? What do you need?"

And then Satoshi opened his mouth. "Well Inquisitor I am glad you asked. As you are well ware, I have been nominated as the future leader of this forsaken city. As such, I must take this commitment with the utmost seriousness…. that is why I would like your support in my upcoming campaign."

Kaze ws already regretting asking but he let him continue "Ok…?"

Satoshi then struck a pose, his arm extending as a card shot out of his sleeve, gliding through the air in front of him before he caught it with the tips of three of his fingers, holding the card and expertly perching it there before letting it sit in front of his face, the picture of a green faced orc emperor clashing with his own facial features next to it. "Much like Orc Emperor Sher'Karnath var Tarkoy, I must have a steady envoy of powerful advisors by my stead. So to demonstrate that, tonight we shall ride through the district on a chariot… well I will. I shall stand tall and wave to my people, letting them know that their leader, Satoshi Yugimoto, shall rid them of Monokumas blasted trap cards, and make this city a peaceful place for them to reside once again, while you push me in said chariot, clad in nothing but a white toga, as is customary for a warrior of the Tarkoy regime. With my superior people skills, and your strength of will, together we will be unstoppable! AHAHAHAHA!"

Kaze stared at him for like a good solid three minutes, doing nothing but just staring and questioning a lot of his life choices that led him to get to this point "... goodbye Satoshi." The Inquisitor turned to leave, which caught the card collector off guard as he scrambled to chase after him.

"No wait! Stay! I only offer for the benefit of everyone here! They need a strong leader and that leader is I!" As he ran the cards in his sleeves started to fall out, the equilibrium possibly disrupted from that one card he called upon earlier "NO! My loyal friends!" He dropped to his knees and flailed around basically forcing himself into a game of 52 pick up, not wanting to move any part of his body on top of them and smudge dirt onto them, or do anything to ruin their perfect portraits as he picked them up.

Kaze didn't feel like playing games with Satoshi, or dressing up to appease this… emperor character or whatever he referred to that as. He felt like tonight he would have to pray to God that whoever the leader was elected tomorrow, it was not Satoshi. He thought to himself and believed that it may be best not to leave Kerria to her own devices, especially in the store where all the expensive clothing was. He made his way towards the store but out of the corner of his eye something stopped him, a small little shape that seemed… amused.

"... puhuhuhuhuhu, that was a nice little show you put on in there Inquisitor. Or should I say your little hope filled friend?"

Kaze looks over a bit and not to far off from the location where they all took a picture was a unwanted observer and that being the self proclaimed "Despairing Mayor" himself.

"What do you want monster?" Was a simple question, making sure he knew he was not pleased to see him.

"Monster? Oh wow you are old fashioned, and not that creative. Do you know how many people call me a monster?" He let out a chuckle as the small teddy bear was sitting upon a bench not too far from the inquisitor as he says. "Though I am disappointed, knowing you I was honestly expecting a daemon from you, heck I would have taken Heathen or Heretic but no… monster, wow how boring."

The bear gave Kaze a wide, mocking smirk, his expressions though limited can express so much with just a simple gesture. "But hey, you've been having such a stressful day I shouldn't expect so much from you, that would be soooo unfair."

A sneer came across Kaze's face, that familiar black pit of rage rising in his chest once again. Knowing you should be better was one thing, but actually restraining your rage when your mortal foe was taunting you was something even Kaze was having a lot of trouble quelling.

"Kaze… you know the rules if you..." and then the inquisitor lunges hands out to grab the bear and the moment he did he was met with a puff of smoke blinding him instantly, followed swiftly by him ramming into the hard wooden bench, tripping over it and finally slamming into the semi soft grass on the other side.

"Ugg… what the..." the protagonist began until another puff is heard.

"Wow you do not learn at all, what would your friends say if they saw that." With a chuckle he was staring down at him. "Here lets me help you up, lets be friends" holding out his hand, which had an obvious buzzer on it.

"..." with a silent grunt he got to his feet and after a quick brushing off of the dirt on his red cape he look down at the headmaster. "What do you want? Or are you only here to torment me?"

"Kaze, when will you learn? I am always here to torment you." He bounces with a small squeak to his step as he walks away but continues eyeing him for a bit. "But no, I honestly came here to check on how things are. Make sure everyone if getting along. Seeing if a murder has happened yet."

"I will have you know that no murder will happen under my watch" The man whose dress style only fit in 200 year ago says looking down at him and crossing his arms. He looks over watching as his friends go off to do their daily routines some form of normalcy coming to this Lost City. As the bear watches him with a very unamused expression, Kaze continued "what do you think we are just going to go off and kill each other to get out? Well I hate to be the one to tell you this but we wanted to come to this city, and sure you guys may be here but it doesn't mean we will do whatever you want cause you deem it so."

Monokuma expression was blank but he just continued to watch hi, taking in even the smallest movements "...puhuhu..." he spins around looking away from Kaze "oh… I understand, i didn't really give you guys a good enough reason to kill. But I know a way to get you to kill each other."

Those words graze the warrior of hope and make him pause and he looks back at him, feeling the air grow cold around them both.

"It's rather simple actually. Maybe I should reveal my hand now, just to spite you, once it's revealed it'll be hard to stop them from killing one another." He mocks as the top hat wearing man turned to fully face his nemesis.

"Monokuma… I won't let..." He began but stopped when he turned to him so swiftly even Kaze was caught off guard.

"What are you going to do, kill me? Bah I am invincible, but this will even drive you to the edge of insanity to kill anyone you meet, so here it is." He opened his mouth as wide as he could, as Kaze went in a last ditch effort to save everyone.

"No don't!" he cries hoping to end this but it was too late monokuma revealed his hand to the whole city, so let the despair ensue.

"LAST ONE STANDING IN THIS BLOODBATH, GETS MY LAST CUP OF SALMON AND HONEY FLAVORED ICE CREAM BHAHAHPHUPHU, IT'S TOO LATE LET THE CARNAGE BEGIN!"

Kaze stopped in mid stride and just… stared.

"You have failed, now let death begin. Oh boy, I can hear it now." He put his hand to his ears as if it will help him hear better… and then…

Silence…

More Silence

I think you're getting the picture but here's some more silence.

"Boo you suck!" Chi's voice calls out in the distance

Monomuka and Kaze share a glance as Kaze eyes were unreadable and monokuma began to sweat ever so slightly. Kaze's eyes began to glare so slowly and the twitch of a smile slowly begins to cross his face. "That was sad." So matter of factly that was stated by our hero.

"Grr… mark my words Kain, next time we meet, the motive will be far far worse!" He snaps as he had his paws in a tight fist.

"..." The Inquisitor was watching as the bear threatens him, it was so empty to him that Kaze can only say "what… you going to offer them your hibernation bed too?"

"..." and the the mayor vanished in a puff of smoke. Well Kaze considered that a victory regardless of how petty it was, it was still something.

Having dealt with the bear that at this moment was more comparable to an annoying despair filled rodent, he continued towards his destination from earlier, Ultimart. His head was in a dark place as was his heart but he tried not to let it show, he needed to stay strong for everyone even if nobody believed in him. And to do that, he had to continue his role as the Ultimate Inquisitor, and that meant not allowing any personal theft of property or identity, and given their first encounter, he wasn't entirely convinced about Kerria.

As the doors of Ultimart opened up automatically for him, Kaze heard a commotion in the store, of course coming from the clothing section, as he expected. Strange though, as he walked through the store he looked up to scope some things out, wanting to ensure he remembered everything about the Ultimate City. Strangely he did remember something… Ultimart didn't have any loudspeakers installed inside. He remembers that was likely a measure not to disturb shoppers with announcements from outside, and back in the day there was a Daily Bulletin Pamphlet every day attached to a pocket on the Jin Kirigiri statue, but that likely wasn't there anymore after… what happened. Although in the current situation he did wish that all areas were equipped with loudspeakers, the Ultimate City isn't as safe as it used to be. Kaze grumbled to himself and began to head over to the aisle, knocking himself out of his thoughts, and when he turned the corner to head into the aisle, an unexpected sight was in front of him.

"Look at all these ancient treasures!" He heard a cheery sounding voice in front of him that he was immediately able to identify as Takara. He had to identify that voice however because in front of her was a shopping cart filled to the brim and then some with anything and everything she could find in the store, the items inside stacked upon each other so high they formed a spire that completely covered Takara's face and body, obscuring her figure from view. "Theresanotherone!" She blurted out as her body dashed from the cart to the shelf immediately to the right of her, bringing her figure into Kaze's view, and having her see his prescience for the first time. "Oh hi Kaze!"

Kaze raised his hand slightly in a half-hearted attempt at a greeting "Hello Takara… may I ask what you are doing in here?"

Takara clapped her hands excitedly as she then pointed over to her big shopping cart "I'm using one of these devices to transport these ancient artifacts to my house!" Takara said this completely in earnest, not knowing about Kaze's policies of keeping things as they were. She then took the object of her desire of the shelf and held it up for him. "Like this one for example!"

Kaze stared at the object, a strange looking toy that seemed ten years behind current trends "Takara…. that is a Smack-It."

She held it up and stared at it, looking at the big round button in the center, completely mesmerized by the shape and the mechanisms inside of it. "Wow I didn't know you were so cultured Kaze, even I wasn't sure what this was." She curiously moved her finger forward and touched the button in the center, to which it made a loud "OOOOWWWW!" sound

"OHNOIBROKEIT!" Takara whined quickly as she put it back on the shelf, her lip quivering as the object of her desire was placed back to prevent further cries of anguish coming from it.

Kaze felt even his heart soften slightly when Takara in her naivete was there worrying about the children's toy. "Uh Takara, it's supposed to do that. What I am curious about is how did it have battery life? And why is it in the-"

"I… BROKE… IT!" Takara screamed louder as she dropped to her knees in front of the shopping cart, staring up at all the things inside of it "I don't deserve to have these artifacts if I treat them this way!" She went into her shopping cart and pulled out an orange T-Shirt that had "If you're reading this, then you've been staring at my chest for too long" imprinted on it. "I don't deserve this and it's level of sass predating out current millenia!" She continued to throw various thing from her cart onto the floor in disarray, acting like a child who was just told Santa Claus wasn't real and was taking their sadness out on the world.

Kaze let out a sigh and tapped his temple in annoyance, feeling a twinge of sympathy and pity in his heart right now "Takara it's… it's ok. You didn't damage it you in fact…. activated it."

She turns around and sniffles, the beginning traces of tears forming in her eyes "I… activated it?"

Kaze he reaches over taking the "artifact" in his hands "Yes its a smack-it, it is a… device that young children use to interact with by physically damaging it… i think?" Mister I didn't have a childhood stares at the device.

"You mean like a toy!?" She gasp putting her hands to her cheeks "and here I thought it was some type of plunger!"

"Yes, a toy I think that's what they are called… you just got to..." he goes and pushes the button as the "device" as Kaze so elegantly put it came to life.

"Alright, smack it!" The device yelled in its cheery and annoying voice

Kaze then goes and smacks the big purple button with the word smack on it as a ding is heard showing him he did the correct thing.

"Sweet, twist it, smack it, twist it" as the annoyingly catchy tune played that will forever haunt Kaze's dreams and when he is just doing his dishes will randomly begin to hum for all eternity. Kaze proceeds to do that as well, twisting the green side, smacking it again and proceeding to twist it yet again.

Was this… what innocent fun felt like?

"Time for the quick round, smack it, shake it, shake it, pull it, twist it, twist it, smack it" Kaze goes and proceeds to smack the purple button, shake the small device, shake it again, pull the green part left, and then smack the purple button and then…

"You missed, you lose, try again you can do better next time." The sickenly cheerful voice says in the small device.

Kaze's eyes widen for a moment before slowly shifting into a glare "Are you challenging me?!"

To which the device in its usually chrasmic and child friendly voice says (the voice to Kaze was nothing but sarcasm) "Smack it!"

"Don't you defy me! You inconsequential child's play thing, I will conquer you like I conquered the machines of cubes and turning colorful sides." The Inquisitor's inner competitor came out, also apparently his hidden dorkiness that he himself didn't even know existed.

Takara cheered him on, beginning to jump up and down by his side "YesKazebeattheplunger!"

Amidst all of the excitement over something that honestly wasn't even that exciting, Kerria peeked her head over from the next aisle, her face accented by extra Gothic makeup around her eyes adding a layer of eyeshadow that was styled slightly like a spider's thread, and anyone who thought that was stupid clearly didn't know good design. Adorning her outfit was a brand new layer of lace that just made her outfit pop that much more, as well as a veil of small black roses adorned around her forehead like a stylish headband. She looked quite stunning with her new stuff attached, until she saw Kaze was in the aisles with Takara and the moment was ruined for her. She slowly tiptoed back into the next aisle, trying to avoid detection from the buzzkill that was…

"Kerria, don't think I didn't see you."

"

….. Kaze

Kerria came back around the corner, the victims of her lavish crimes of fashion being worn on her body at that current moment. The Gothic puppeteer put her fingers together and put a believable smile on her face "Oh hello Mr. Kain, what brings you here?"

Kaze looks at her and let out a deep sigh of restraint "While I do not agree with it… under the circumstances I am willing to let you take a few things from the store."

Kerria's eyes lit up as she looked up to look clearly into his eyes "Really?!" A small cough escaped her lips as if to regain her composure "I mean, what makes you think I wish to take things from the store?" Kaze just continued to stare at her for a moment, looking down to her chest not to check her out but examining the expensive looking necklace made out of exotic seashells around her neck that dangled down to her chest. "... Oh that I was simply trying it on, I was planning to put it-" When she saw he wasn't fazed she decided to drop it "Well, thank you I do appreciate you allowing me to take these things."

Kaze sighs and sees Takara exiting the building with a shopping cart full of her "artifacts" including the Smack-It which might or might not have a small dent in it from frustration. "Yes don't mention it… though this is under the condition that upon us being rescued or finding a way out you either pay for these belongings or return them, understood?" He made that statement firmly to which Kerria could only nod, keeping that smile upon her features.

Kerria looks up at him, the height difference between them very present and showing the difference in power between Kaze and most of the normal Ultimates, the difference between Kaze and the people that he was trying to protect and discipline if necessary, but with Kerria and Takara feeling that these objects would brighten their moods he thought maybe just a small bit of charity would go a long way, just don't expect this very often. "Well I'm sure that is hard for you but much appreciated. Perhaps I shall put on a puppet show with these materials soon." With her own catch of course "After I indulge myself with some of these sweet treats that have been left behind." Kaze gave her a small glare "... Ok perhaps just one pack of sweet rolls."

Kaze "..." He paused for a moment "... The City can part with one pack." Kerria smiled happily and went to grab herself some snacks to enjoy at her own convenience, and Kaze did have a smile on his face. That girl did seem to have a way with people, and a way of getting what she wanted.

After waiting for a few moments, Kerria and Kaze departed from Ultimart, a few items along with her accessories adorning her in her own little small handbag that may or may also not be from the store on her person. They met up with Takara, who while pushing that cart all by herself was having some trouble. "WhyyougottabesoHEAVY!?"

Kaze with one hand moved next to her and began to push said cart "Come, let us head back to drop your stuff off."

Kerria watched this and let out a small gasp "My you are strong Mr. Kain, I suppose that is why you are the Ultimate Inquisitor after all.'

Kaze nods his head, not feeling a need to respond to that but behind his lavish dress attire was the muscular stature of a bodybuilder with the speed of an athlete. He had to be in peak physical condition to be one of the most dangerous men in the city. When dealing with Ultimates and needing to keep everything in order, one needed to be better than those in his company. That was Kaze's creed, to be better, and to protect this Ultimate City created under God.

"WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEE!" A loud cry echoed through the district, the sound of what seemed like a loud whistle kept screeching through the city's wide streets. Takara let out a loud squeal as she fell onto her butt, Kerria waking over and extending a manicured hand to help her up as Kaze's trained ear knew exactly where the sound came from. He gently took the wrists and began to walk towards said area he heard, appearing to be the park.

Kaze turns the corner with Kerria and Takara in tow to see where that massive whistle was, finding that at the park were none other than the rest of the ultimates all gathered around that platform that they used earlier when the Monokubs introduced themselves. Not a pleasant memory for Kaze but he will deal with it. It was strange how they all seemed to get there before him since Ultimart was one of the closest locations to the park, although he might chalk it up to the fact that Ultimart seemed to not have any loudspeakers installed inside. Odds are he just missed the sound the first time despite how loud it was as the store was quite well insulated.

Behind the Monokubs' old platform was the park however the park was now littered with what can only be considered the equipment found in the gym. It would seem somehow they moved everything from the gym out into the park. Medicine balls all alined a area calling itself the "Dodgeball field". Well that looks like fun. Then there were the high jumps with a long poles and high post that may have been tall for any safest regulated sporting events. 50 pound weights you put on a bench press machine were spray painted red and labeled "discus". This honestly looks like a olympics arena made by the deeply mentally challenged and rednecks.

"BWA KAKIHAHAHAHA, Ok you wimpy poop stains that we are forced to call (cause we are contractually obligated to) ultimates, welcome to the first every daily Meat and Beat..." and the blue tinted Monokub just let that sit there "... I know what I said, ready to exercise till you wanna die." He points his massive log of a hand "well too bad, I am not allowed to kill you, so if any of you try to die like a bunch of tuna fishes into my mighty iron clab jaws, then I will jump into heck itself and drag you pieces of doo doo back into your flesh! YES I HAVE THAT POWER AND NO IT IS NOT PLEASANT!"

"Umm Mister Monogruff I have a question" Tsukasa is raising her hand a bit.

"I didn't ask for questions" He looks down at her a bit blankly.

She slowly puts her hands down "oh…. Can I ask a question?"

Monogruff looks at her for a long while and he thinks about it and he rubs his chin "mmmm…. How about no"

Tsukasa lets out a long "aww"

As Kaze and the girls approach it did not go unnoticed as very quickly Daichi turned over with a smile, it was as if that guy knew exactly when Kaze was in the area. "Aww Our Protagonist has arrived, last to come i see." He said that as if he was walking to a actor who just made a dramatic entrance.

Takara gasps loudly "I'm a Protagonist, but I was baptized!"

Daichi looks over at Kerria and Takara a bit… he almost seemed annoyed that they were even there. "Oh joy, background characters."

Kerria though Kaze didn't glance at her he could just sense the disdain "Nice to see you too, Mr. Souma it is a pleasure as always."

Chi ran over to be at the side of Daichi and says "Woah Kaze got game, i was for sure one of them was riding the Allen Grant mofo, and the puppeteer, I always knew classy ones were the easiest."

Daichi and Kaze almost at the same time "Go away!" Which made both of them look up at one another, Kaze with a more stern glance and Daichi with a smile. Kerria seem to choose to ignore the gamer, while Takara was still questioning her life on a theosophical level.

Monogruff looks over and he he blew his whistle again making most of the contestants shrink a bit as he says. "Finally now that the last of you has arrived, we can now whip you all into shape! Look at all of you the fact you're all under 7 feet tall disgusts me!"

Tsukasa raised her hand "but… but, exercise doesn't make you taller it..."

He points at her "hey you, i said no questions!" he snaps viciously.

"But it wasn't a question, it was just me telling you that..." The dancer began again before the loud shrieking whistle cut her off.

"NO QUESTIONS!" He bellowed and he looks at everyone here as he gave off a massive smirk as he jumps down from the platform and walks over. "We are all going to be working out and making you all grow up to be young and strong, and admittedly sexy murderers soon, we got a couple events for you guys, warm ups, followed by the discus, then it will be the pole vault and we will finish it off with a run here and back to the living arena, fastest one will receive a prize!"

"Oh good I was worried we would have to do that medicine ball dodgeball game" Tomomi began wiping her brow.

"Oh of course not, that's tomorrow. I don't want to spoil all of you." A very sinister chuckle escaped the monster bears throat as he looks around at the citizens, "now then let us..." However a certain painter's hand went back up.

He just stares down at her.

She looks up at him with a small smile on her face waving her hand.

His glare hardened as his left eye began to twitch.

Her hand in the air begins to wave more frantically.

"WHAT!?" Finally the 8 foot tall monokub finally snapping out of his trance.

"Can we change into our gym clothing?! Wouldn't it be easier to do all of this like that..." Gruff slowly put his face into his hand as Tsukasa was looking at him with the same faint smile not at all detoured by his attitude. He slowly nods his head and waves us off which all the citizens walked off afterwards.

Soon after a small break and now in more appropriate clothing for these activities, mostly being outfits that most school children would be wearing, pure white shirts, with the guys in long black shorts and the girls in short shorts and long stockings. Those the front of the shirt usually would be displaying the symbol of Hope's Peak along with its name on it, but on these they have been X out with mark and crudely written on it was "Despair's Peak". They also notice how when no one laughed at the "joke", Monomaxime seemed to deflate a bit.

Speaking of the Kubs they seem to be standing on the bleachers a bit away watching Gruff do his thing, they didn't seem too interested in this Meat and Beat as King, Boss and Maxime were all together playing a friendly card game that Boss seemed to be getting a bit too into. Babe was playing with one of the medicines balls, by playing she was flailing as it was on top of her crushing her. Finally Lisa was on the bleachers though her usual yellow dress has been replaced with a cheerleading outfit and her unreasonably long hair turned into pigtails, and

the second she saw Kaze glance her way she batted her eyes and gave him a wink, making the inquisitor look away in spite.

Kaze found himself after getting change next to Kaoru and Satoshi, the perfumer seeming to be very annoyed, complaining about how much she didn't want to do this while the card collector mocked her. It was odd how those two were getting somewhat along. "Nii-San tell Satoshi he's being mean to me!"

"I was not being mean, i am merely telling you to get over it, Dark Prince Tryell suffered more to gain his measly 1000 life points than just doing exercises" he explained holding up a very strange card that looked like a man if you crossed the devil with a edgelord.

"Nii-san?" Kaze glanced down at the perfumer as she held his sleeve as he looks over at Satoshi "Satoshi please leave Kaoru alone!" Satoshi rolls his eyes crossing his arms as Kaoru stuck her tongue out giving him a raspberry.

Monogruff says looking around "ok you guys need to divide into partners so you guys can start doing your reps and warm ups, stretches, jumping jacks, push up, pull ups and all that sweet, sweet sweaty fun."

With that as the words to partner up quickly the cast of the Lost City of Talent moved, Kaze's eyes finally saw a prime opportunity to finally get that one on one with Yuki, if she was his partner then there was no way they could avoid one another. He turned his attention quickly enough to catch the White and Cyan hair of Yuki as she moved past some of the other citizens. "Yuki you and I are partners." Shouldn't be too bad they've pretty much be unofficial partners since the beginning of the Ultimate City. That was until he noticed she wasn't alone.

"Gruff, mature voice, lacking any base of humor or kindness. Hello Kaze." Yuki didn't even bother to turn around while addressing him, not seeing a need to. Kaze saw next to her was none other then Tomomi "Tomomi has already asked me." Without a word she walks off never once glancing at Kaze her voice as dry and emotionless as ever.

"..." The inquisitor just stood there at being rejected so thoroughly. HIs eyes trained over to Tomomi who shrugs and says.

"Sorry Kaze I have to have a word with her" She gave little else reason and walked off with Yuki. This did little to help the Inquisitor's mood, and besides he needed to talk with her as well, but he decided not to bring that up.

"Hey come now good chap, sure your 2 love interests seem more preoccupied with one another to notice you but hey it is only the first act." Walking over placing his hand on Kaze's shoulder was Daichi, of course it was Daichi. "Sooo… you need a partner."

Kaze knew for one thing, that he really and I repeat really didn't want to be the directors partner. He didn't know why but something about the Orange haired man really didn't sit right with him, could be just how he addressed everyone.

"No, no I want to spend some quality time with my fiancee." Oh no, potentially even worse. Kaze slowly looks over, feeling his sleeve grabbed and he saw the Painting Dancer there holding his shoulder. He glanced up and sighed, he needed to get out of this somehow.

He turned to hopefully his savior which is none other than the bodyguard, who much to his dismay Kaori and Noboru seem to be attached at the hip (mostly per Noboru's request) so they were almost instantly partners. "Curses. He squirms to break free from there grasp and gaze, looking around for someone, anyone to help him out of this situation.

Kyojin jumps up in front of them both and gives a small roar making both Daichi and Tsukasa leap up ni shock as the man beast grips his leg "No I call him, he still owes me, he's mine." Now the creature actor was getting involved. 'Why is this happening to him?" He wonders and just to poke the fire, Chi walks over to stake his claim.

"Hey back off you sluts, that my man." The game designer needlessly adds.

Kaze stares forward blankly "... Nope" He shoved by these people grabbing the nearest other person near him which was none other than the local Ultimate who knows and who cares. "Shino want to be my partner?"

Shino looks over at him and he gave a shrug "Ok" Shino honestly was just kind of watching that entire scene play off. Which cause the four who seem to want to be his partner to groans or sign in disappointment.

With that all the other people found their partners, with Kaze now taken Kyojin almost instantly moved and grab Haruna as she really didn't care too much just following the weirdo happy it wasn't Orochi. Chi seemed a tad annoyed by that, not jealous more or less because his punching bag was taken from him.

"Chi you're with me, because it's between you and the cop, and me and cops don't have a good history." Deku walks back and grabs Chi by his sleeve tugging him along.

Kaze looked around and saw that Deku was indeed right, everyone else seemed to have gathered their partner. Tokaku and Kerria, both in love of the same type of clothing seem to have formed a small friendship as they became partners. Even Kaoru and Satoshi small little encounters have lead them to partner up. Tsukasa being dejected by her "fiancee's" departure it lead her to the supporting arms of her friend Kairia.

Of course Watura and Takara were just like the tightrope walker and the bodyguard attached at the hip. Leaving only Takeshi standing there awkwardly by himself, which meant the only person left for him was…

Daichi with his arms extended "Ah Takeshi it would seem we are sharing a duet scene together. I've been curious about you, are you a sidekick or an antagonist?"

Takeshi says lowly and warningly "I ain't no one's side kick and I ain't an antagonist!"

Daichi smiles a bit, a smile that was clearly fake and made sure to look at fake as possible "Of course Mr. Kogahara"

With that the teams were gathered and they proceeded to get into the grass, which although limited and mostly drying, there was still some fresh patches in the park that allowed the citizens to lay down and do their warms up in relative comfort rather then doing it on the hard rocks. They found their spot though it did give Kaze time to think a bit more, though he would rather be spending this time trying to get answers out of Yuki he knew it was probably hopeless now.

Kaze started bending his body to lean forward and touch his toes, making sure to stretch and get his body all nice and limber for the coming challenge. Feeling his arching muscles that he didn't realize were even stiff bend and stretch out before finally relaxing.

"You seem quiet Kaze?" A voice spoke next to him almost shocking him in the process, and it was from his partner Shino.

"I don't think you should talk, you're as quiet as a church mouse." The inquisitor pointed out as he and Shino began to do their jump jacks.

"Yeah that's probably true." He gave a nod and he felt the silence coming before it became a bit too obvious, both of them only hearing the sound of the other people grunting and groaning as they did their warm ups with the sound of Monogruff's feet moving up and down the line making sure no one was slacking over all other background noise.

"Sorry, didn't mean to snap." The Inquisitor of hope finally spoke out.

"No I am used to it, you just seemed stressed and worked up is all. I guess that figures with all things considered." The unofficial Ultimate lamp post says.

"I don't know I am just..." He began but Shino cut him off.

"You're thinking about the entire not being on the ballet thing, right?" The very messy looking unknown ultimate looks over. Before Kaze could question how he knew, he simple shrugged "I just sort of noticed."

They continue to do their exercises under Monogruff's orders, Shino lying down on the grass and Kaze took his position at his feet, holding them for him so he could start to perform sit ups. "You seem to notice a lot don't you. Since we are getting into personal stuff you ever going to talk? You seem to not really interact with everyone like the others do."

Shino gave a smile and he says "Fair point, just food for thought not everything is what it seems. Take some advice from the fly on the wall, or well the unseen lightpost" They both get up as Monogruff calls them over. Kaze took a second to look over as everyone was gathering over to him, and then he looked back to Shino "come on lets..." and he was gone.

Kaze looked over and saw that his partner had already joined the group of other ultimates, and Kaze shook his head in exasperation joining him "Now for those who have picked your partners well congrats! You will have the same partner until a murder is committed."

Chi calls out from his location in the crowd "oh joy all the more reason to kill someone."

Haruna looks over "must you comment on everything?" She crosses her arms a bit under her chest glaring at him.

"Do you have to cross your arms like that cause your tits are so full of silicon they no longer can reach around them?" The game designer smirks as he chuckles in his sickeningly cute laugh much to the reviewer's glare, those a few odd glances of a few guys and even one or two of the girls to confirm the validity of that statement, though none choose to really call anything out, deciding it was better that way.

However the special meeting continued even after the warm ups, they were just that the warm ups. As it was time to get to the rest of the "events" as the blue kub seems to think they are.

First of these grand events was none other than the discus toss, in which if you've ever thrown a real discus in real life before you would know how much of a challenge that is in itself. However now that those discus have been replaced with 50 pounds of weights you would put on a bench press, well things have gotten considerably tougher. All Monogruff wanted was for at least one person to make it past 10 feet in the discus but even that was asking a bit to much of these people. The results all varied quite heavily. From the powerful, such as Kaori and Takeshi who were at least able to launch the damn thing not just to but over Monogruff's benchmark by quite a bit.

Others not so much, Kaoru it would seem was trying to grip her tiny little fingers around the massive metal cylinders as she even with all her might couldn't even pick it up. Chi is seen thoroughly mocking the young Perfumer, until was his turn and it showed that he was able to pick one up…..only for Orochi to stumble back and fall onto his back with the 50 pound of iron coming crashing down on him, much to Kaoru and Haruna's enjoyment.

Most were left in utter failure and humiliation of the discus showing Satoshi throwing the discus perfectly… into the head of Monogruff, which then showed a scene of the man bear chasing Satoshi around the entire square. Many others didn't even know how to lift properly, mostly lifting with their backs instead of their legs which would lead to many long term problems they would probably feel tomorrow.

Some actually were able to complete the task and throw the discus as it was intended to be thrown. Noburo was able to pick up the massive metal weight and was able to launch it the required 10 feet. He stood proudly in victory waiting for his hand to be held, though he would have to wait a long time mostly due to the fact that the 8 foot monokub trying to murder Satoshi for the prior incident.

Event two was the pole vault, and although simply a long sanded out area of the park, the pole vault had flimsy, borderline unusable poles and of course the actual jump itself is more or less at a unreasonable height and the mat to catch them was more along the lines of a mattress someone found at the dump. However, nearly half of the citizens have decided to sit this one out mostly do to the occurring injuries in the discus tossing, but for those who braved this one, well they were not so lucky.

Like Kyojin who wanted to fly high like one of his monsters, he launched himself at full speed into the air with the pole, only for it to stop half way up before it proceeded to come crashing right back down making the creature actor eat the sand.

The Hypnotist didn't do much better, when she failed it was already on her down decent where her shirt got caught in the pole going up making it give a very unfortunate wardrobe malfunction for the other citizens to just gaze at.

Other similar injuries were for Takeshi who felt he pole go between his legs and even the great inquisitor who had his pole snap in two on the charging part making him take a good face shot of the ricocheting pole.

No one really won this event, well Yuki did, she was able to do it near perfect with her jump and landing being practically graceful. Yuki would look back at this and if anyone asked her she would just say. "I just remembered not to fail" as her only response.

With that the two side events came to a brief and painful end.

After all of those events, the residents were starting to get tired, well no they were already tired, they were starting to get physically exhausted at this point. However just one blow of Gruff's massive whistle snapped them all back to attention, as he simply pointed his finger down at his feet. "Alright now, everybody line up! No more partners this time, it's every puny man and dainty woman for themselves! First one to get to the Residential Area and back wins a special prize.

They all let out a loud groan but lined up near Monogruff, the hulking monster of a bear man just watching them with a twisted and malicious permanent smile on his bear mask. The residents all lined up, with Haruna sassily saying "Is the prize getting you to stop talking?"

That got a couple chuckles, however all it got from Gruff was his foot on her back pressing down some weight on it and tracking mud all over the back of her clothes "No, but keep this up and the only prize you'll get is the pain stopping when your head is separated from your shoulders! You got that?!"

Haruna let out a cry of pain, her back already sore from exercise now forced to endure a fraction of Gruff's weight, which even then probably exceeded her own and then some. "YES! I UNDERSTAND!" Gruff removed his boot as the sassy reviewer was left on the ground, still writhing slightly in pain just from Gruff's massive bulk. Kerria and Tokaku moved closer to check on her, but Gruff blew his whistle loudly to cut them off.

"BACK IN LINE! We are going to start on my signal!" The largest Monokub was abusing his authority heavily, though the other Monokubs just seemed to cheer him on and applaud what they were seeing, their mission being to torture them and make them want to kill each other so it made sense, but never before has Kaze had such a strong desire to take another human life as badly as he does right now.

"Alright residents! On your mark!" The Ultimates began to arch their backs getting ready to take off

"Get set!" They were all ready to begin their run

… And then Tsukasa raised her hand "I have a question."

Monogruff yelled impatiently "I WILL HIT YOU!"

Tsukasa "OK!" And her hand was dropped just like that

"GGGGGGOOOOO!" And his whistle was blown as the ultimates started the race, none of them going into a full on sprint right away, all starting more at a jog then a run. Noboru got a noticeable head start early on, but that was just because Kaze assumed he wanted a strong start so he wouldn't get burned out later. Kaze was aware however that stamina with a steady speed outsped raw speed t the beginning any day. Out of shape Ultimates like Orochi and Kerria started to fall behind rather quickly, walking briskly than even attempting anything close to speed, their bodies already spent, whilst Yuki seemed to barely even be moving a muscle, walking at such a slow pace that even a turtle could pass her. However the two most enthused ultimates, being Satoshi and Kyojin, did the Noboru approach and took off sprinting, although neither of them were as fast they made up for it in spirit, Kyojin running on all fours straight away while Satoshi was sprinting with his arms behind his back, his hands having a death grip on his sleeves to make sure no cards would begin to spill out as he ran.

Meanwhile completely in the middle doing a slight jog, Kaori, Takeshi, Tomomi, Takara, and Kaze were all pretty close to each other as they turned the corner near the hospital to go down the long road to the Residential area. Tsukasa was lagging behind slightly to talk to Kiaria, which it was evident that she was faster since her speedwalk matched Kiaria's jog speed, although she did seem to be eying Kaze as they ran in front of her which I'm sure he wouldn't be appreciating. Back to Kaze, he was looking side to side seeing the company he was in and content they were able to keep up with one another. these people seemed to either have the energy or pure physical conditioning to keep up with each other when they were doing a brisk jog, and Kaze was ok with that, especially matching the likes of Kaori and Takeshi.

Takeshi rolled his eyes as they jogged "Can you believe we have to deal with that giant asshole's bullshit? We could probably take them if we all ganged up on him."

Kaori shook her head in disagreement "That could work, although I suspect the bear doesn't play fair and all of the kubs, plus his strength, plus whatever trick the bear has up his sleeves… I would rather not risk that."

Kaze looks in Kaori's direction and nods "She is correct, there is no reason to go after them now." It didn't take a rocket science to see the big contradiction lying in Kaze's reasoning right now, and Takeshi was about to drive a truck through it.

"Oh really?! So you would rather sit back and let the Monokubs roll all over us?! Especially coming from Mister "charge in and kill all of them" yesterday don't blame me if I find that hard to believe. Remember, you're only standing here today because of me."

Takara tried to be the peacemaker here getting in between them slightly "Boys don't start fighting! It's hard enough to run as it is without you arguing!"

Kaze furrowed his brow and glared in his direction "What was that mall cop? Is that a statement, a fact… or a challenge?"

Tomomi looked in their direction with a frown "Guys don't do this, we're already tired don't exhaust yourselves even further."

Takeshi however just kind of shoved his way [past them as they arrived at the Residential Area just in time to see Satoshi trip over himself and eat the pavement, the poor card collector landing on his side and sliding to the sidewalk "Oooowww…. AH! MY CARDS" He opened up his sleeves and checked his cards making sure there weren't any skidmarks on them.

The group stopped at the area as Takeshi and Kaze stared at one another, Takeshi responding to Kaze's previous statement with a smirk "Maybe it's all three...how about you try to prove me wrong?" He got into a proper sprinting stance "Let's race the rest of the way back, properly this time.

Without even saying a word, Kaze got into his own sprinting stance, ready to take off t the drop of a dime. "Just say the word… I'll show you to underestimate me."

Kaori crossed her arms not liking this one bit. "Takeshi, stop goading him."

Tomomi looked at both of them with that same hopeful expression she gave the group earlier that day "Kaze, you have nothing to prove, don't do this.

However both of the males weren't listening to them at all, getting ready to charge from the Residential Area, a silent countdown between both of them as Takara, Kaori, and Tomomi watched helpless to stop them as both of the alpha males of the group just took off, their arms flailing in the wind, their legs carrying them as fast as they could. The girls tried to catch up with them but they couldn't even hope to catch up with them in a full on sprint, ignoring the world around them as in no time at all they were back at the hospital rounding the corner and lapping Yuki, who just seemed to pay no mind to their dick measuring contest the two men were having right there. They kept sprinting, a minimal distance being all that prevented their shoulders from touching as they were truly neck and neck, matching each other to a tee as they passed Kyojin, the animal man stumbling as he watched them pass him by, tilting his head to the side in curiosity as they whirred past Ultimart.

The world was a blur as the op and the inquisitor got to the point where they could see Monogruff there, watching them kill themselves over who would get there first and he was loving it, grinning to himself as the two muscular Ultimates at the same time dived for the finish line, desperate to be the first person to cross that line. Their massive arms extended, and in the photo finish the winner was….

…

…

KAZE!

Monogruff chuckles and taps the inquisitor's back mockingly with his boot "Congratulations Kaze, you really gave it your all and earned your medal." Kaze didn't even hear anything, he looked over and saw that he beat Takeshi and that was all that mattered to him. He beat him, and that mattered to him so much for all the people who said he shouldn't run this city anymore, that he shouldn't be the protector. He was the fastest, he was the strongest, he had to assert himself into that role otherwise… he was nothing. Takeshi wasn't the reason Kaze was alive, Kaze was the reason Kaze was alive. At least, that's what he believed. Takeshi took a deep, angry breath and stormed off but Kaze didn't even notice, the people passing by him immediately knowing who won the race based off of his reaction.

"Yes congratulations Kaze, you really earned your silver medal." He heard Monogruff's complete sentence this time and froze, looking up as he panted, saliva escaping his lips as he was unable to stop himself from spitting in exhaustion, all the extra moisture being caught in his throat and he hacked it up feeling like a lung was about to come out.

"S-s-silver?!" He was finally able to cough that out, unable to get up out of exhaustion as Kyojin finally entered the park, taking his fourth place spot and licking himself clean which was as disgusting as it sounded. Shortly following him was Deku, who leaped from a nearby lightpost and smirked, not taking the traditional route but keeping his speed up, and Monogruff being Monogruff allowed it.

Monogruff smirked, reveling in seeing Kaze's face deflate knowing he didn't get here first "Yup, the real winner here is…" He then extends a massive tree trunk arm in the direction of the resident carney, Noboru Takahashi. "NOBORU!" After Deku earning her 6th place spot was actually Tsukasa, who ran at her full sprinting speed out of concern for Kaze seeing how quickly he took off. She saw he was ok and was relieved, sitting at a nearby park bench to wait for her friend Kiaria and just to watch the rest of the race. Entering the park and then promptly leaving was Shino, the 7th place man just kind of showing up out of nowhere and then departing just as quickly after hearing his placement.

Soon after Shino, the group that Kaze was originally in emerged, except they didn't kill themselves trying to get here and ran at a simple yet leisurely pace. Kaori would take 8 th place, with Takara and Tomomi taking 9th and 10th respectively, The three females looked down at Kaze and sighed, offering the Inquisitor help to get up which he took after a grumble of dissatisfaction. Noboru however was quite pleased with himself, walking over too the bodyguard and showing off the shiny medal Monogruff gave him, and by shiny I mean glorified plastic. "Look Kaori, I came in first!"

Daichi came into the park next, taking a bow at his very middle of the road performance and walked off seeing that Kaze was occupied, who speaking of which looked at Noboru, thoroughly exhausted but stubborn enough to force out "How.. how did you get here so fast?"

Noboru had a rather large smile on his face, actually quite pleased with himself for coming in first. "Oh it's just something I've built up over the years, I've become so in tuned with my legs that I can sprint while on top of a tightrope, so really even when I'm on the ground I just have always had that strength and mobility in my legs. They call me the Pink Blur back in the circus tent, and that's trademarked so do not steal!" As he told Kaze about his trade secret Kiaria came into the park taking her 12th place finish, before promptly falling onto her bott in the grass exhausted from everything. Tokaku came after her and spiraled onto the ground in a daze, her face red from the sun beating down on them and all the physical activity just making for a horrible experience for her.

Kaze frowned with dissatisfaction but he had to admit, he didn't even see Noboru since the beginning of the race so he truly was like a blur. That kid was fast, very fast and seemed to have a lot of stamina going his way too. He must have been a born athlete, and had years of training to get where he was today. He might not like he came second, but he did gain some respect for Noboru out of it. Plus he beat Takeshi, so that's all that matters.

The rest of the Ultimates finally started to come in, as Haruna was the next one up, the online reviewer having her arms down and swinging like an exhausted primate as she rested against the tree near the park entrance. 15th place and counting was given to Wataru, who barely seemed to break from his beginning jog so while he wasn't nearly as exhausted as the others it was likely because he didn't even really try, and he probably knew he wouldn't place too well anyway even if he did. Kerria and Kaoru came in net at almost exactly the same time, but where as Kaoru seemed to be much more exhausted from actually making an attempt at finishing well, Kerria just accepted her position and didn't even attempt to run, especially since she didn't want her outfit to get ruined. 18th place went to Orochi, the kid looking genuinely tired and even had some tears in his eyes as he whined crossing the finish line and fell into Haruna's lap, which he was promptly pushed out of with a disgusted sneer by her.

And in second to last place… was Yuki, who never even broke from her walk and looked completely fine, not tired at all but she didn't even really make an effort, just neutrally going past the others and setting herself down on a park bench, where Tsukasa started up a conversation with her. And a full ten seconds behind her, coming in last place 

"YOU'RE CHAMPION HAS ARRIVED!" Satoshi yelled out in triumph as sweat was pouring out from all of his possible orifices, his clothing soaked but in his sleeves Kaze could see the vague outlines of plastic covers that were likely employed for his card packs to avoid them taking any damage to the material. The card collector seemed to value those cards above everything else but the exhaustion was still evident despite the fact he practically stopped halfway through the race.

Kaoru looked up from her spot and wheezed out "Uh dork of ages… you came in last."

Satoshi dropped to his knees, both out of disappointment and exhaustion. "That's not possible!" He screamed to the sky "On the name of the ever present Ikutski Shiginara, I AM NOT WORTHY!" And then he fell onto his back wheezing and gasping in pure exhaustion "Wow… that sucked."

Monogruff went for one last blow of his loud whistle, making all of the Ultimates present jump one final time "Man I love this whistle. Alright, today's Meat and Beat is OVER! See you all tomorrow at 3 o clock sharp!"

SO LONG, BEAR WELL!

And Monogruff, as well as all of the other Monokubs in the stands, disappeared from view, vanishing away like a magic trick that nobody ever knew how it worked.

After the agonizing exercise of the Meat and Beat, Kaze trudged himself out of the park. It had been a while since Kaze had been through such rigorous training, and if he was tired than he could only imagine how the others were holding up. He was thirsty, so he decided to head over towards the restaurant, deciding he wanted to have some free time by himself.

But that was just a pipe dream wasn't it? For the moment he got near the entrance, he heard a very distinct sound that somehow got him every time. "RRRAAAAWRRR!" Kaze turned on a dime, his fist cocked like he had been trained to o when surprise attacked, but standing behind him was Kyojin, who jumped down to the ground and curled up into an unnaturally tight ball "AH! Not again!"

Kaze sighed in frustration but unballed his fist looking down at him "Don't worry, I learned from last time." Kyojin peeked out from his little ball, to which he then popped up onto all fours, his back arching up like an excited dog wagging his tail.

"Yay! No punchies this time!" They just kind of stayed like that for a moment, Kaze feeling the awkwardness build for a moment before he asked him the obvious.

"Um, do you need something Kyojin?" To which the creature actor frowned, and as if suddenly remembering he was mad at Kaze, had his brows furrow as he looked up at him and growled.

"Yeh! I see you let Kerria and Takara take things from the store, but never got me that toy you owe me!" Oh, so he was still holding onto that.

Kaze raised an eyebrow at him, not confused about his request but a bit surprised he was still holding him to that "I never promised I would get you that toy."

Kyojin gasped and the small boy's eyes teared up as he stared up at him, his "claws" digging into the ground below him. "That hurts inquisitor! You owe me two toys now and I want my feel better milkshake!"

Kaze looked at him and crossed his arms in annoyance, his eyes rolling as he went to head towards the restauran, feeling his throat become drier by the moment. "I don't have time for this." However when he looked down, Kyojin was walking by his side on all fours, happily smiling as if everything was ok.

"Awe we ARE going to the restaurant, so feel better milkshake time! I knew you cared." Kaze was about to retort but sighed and just let it be. If making a milkshake was what it took to appease the child than he supposed it couldn't be that bad. Just make a milkshake for him quick and get it over with, he'll probably just forget about the two toys he now "owed" him apparently.

Upon entering the restaurant, Kyojin sat himself down on one of the bar stools, spinning around on it with his arms extended like a happy little child, as Kaze put himself to work heading into the back to see what ingredients he had to work with. Surprisingly, the fridge seemed to be stocked with fruits, vegetables, and beverages for them, a pleasant surprise from the Kubs and their bear father it would seem. Nevertheless Kaze just took some milk and all of the fruits from the fridge he could find from the fridge, and foraged through the pantry to find some sugar. Kaze was no cook but he did know the basics, and understood how to make a milkshake, all he needed was a blender, which luckily they did. In fact the kitchen was stocked with all types of tools, from a microwave, to a stove, to a toaster, a full cutting board of kitchen knives, everything you could need in a kitchen would be here. Kaze wasn't sure if this was actually for their comfort, or if it was just to give them more ways to kill one another, likely more leaning towards the latter. Kaze put the ingredients on the counter and then walked back to the dining area and looked in Kyojin's direction

"What flavor milkshake would you like?" And when he walked out, the horror of the situation was not lost on him. For when he arrived back in the restaurant dining area, there were not one, not two, not three… but four people sitting on the bar stools. To be more exact, they were Kiaria, Tokaku, and Haruna all sitting there along with Kyojin looking at him expectantly.

"So, we heard you are making milkshakes?" Kaze looked over at Kyojin slightly annoyed, to which he gave him a sheepish grin

"Oh come on Kaze, I saw these three ladies walking outside and thought I would impress them by offering them milkshakes made by the Ultimate Inquisitor himself!" Kyojin smiled widely like he was happy with himself.

Kaze stares at him for a long moment "I am not your man servant, Mr. Otoshidan."

However Kiaria looked over with her wide, overly cute eyes staring into his "Oh thank you Inquisitor for making these for us. No wonder you have become the apple of Tsukasa's eye, you are a true gentleman. One strawberry milkshake please."

Kaze "..." That lingered for a moment but Kaze felt a small smile come to his face, the violinist being quite the charmer and Kaze always was a sucker for that special type of innocence. "...And what would you other ladies like?"

Haruna put her elbow on the table boredly but looks up at him "Um I'd like a blueberry one if you're offering."

Tokaku happily says "Banana for me." She then blushed quickly and felt the need to add "N-not like I'm getting banana because I'm "like that" or anything I just like the taste of banana flavoring. It has nothing to do with the size and shape of the fruit."

Haruna looks over with a questioning look "Nobody assumed that."

Tokaku blushes harder as she looks down "Oh… well uh yes banana please."

Kyojin practically hopped up onto the counter and exclaimed in a frantic manner "And I want STRAWBERRY!"

Haruna taps her finger on the counter. "Oh joy, not only was that response unoriginal, but you weren't even the first person to ask for it."

Kyojin slides over to Kaze on the counter and whispers into his ear "I hear that girls are mean to people they like… is this one of those times?"

Kaze stares at him questioning where these people who ask him ridiculous questions like that get their knowledge. "I doubt that very much Kyojin. So two strawberry milkshakes, one blueberry, and one banana. I will return." With that Kaze headed back into the kitchen, listening with his superior hearing as Kyojin was being his usual fanatical self and the girls were talking trying hard to ignore his antics.

After about 15 minutes, Kaze came back out from the kitchen with multiple smoothies on a serving tray, luckily for him there was a second blender in a nearby utility closet so the process wasn't nearly as aggravating as it could have been. Besides, having the time to think while preparing this was nice so all in all this was a rather pleasant experience after all. One at a time he sat the milkshakes down on the table. Strawberry for Kiaria, blueberry for Haruna, banana for Tokaku, and strawberry for-... wait a second. He could have sworn he had a second strawberry milkshake here for Kyojin but it wasn't there anymore. He looked back to the small little walkway between the kitchen and no there was no spill… so where did that milkshake go?

Kyojin sniffled like a little kid just discovering he wasn't getting what he wanted for Christmas. "You… you got everyone a feel better milkshake but me?" He began to whine and looked like he was about to cry, to which Kaze held out a hand silencing him temporarily

"No no I did not forget… I must have misplaced it. Stay here, if I cannot find it I shall simply make another one." Kaze moved back to the kitchen, again listening into their conversation this time hoping Kyojin wouldn't whine about this too hard.

Kiaria made a sad gasp "Oh you poor little baby, would you like mine?"

Kyojin made a loud sound. presumably from jumping off his seat so quickly it actually made the stool lurch and hit the counter "I would LOVE your milkshake!"

Haruna wasted no time in retorting sassily "That was an empty gesture you little brat."

Tokaku tried to be the middle ground between the three of them "Please do just sit back down and be patient, yours will be out soon enough."

Kyojin made what sounded like a panting sound and said "Ok, I'll be nice for the pretty one."

To which all three girls replied in unison "Thank you Kyojin." Kaze assumed afterwards the girls all looked at each other, and Tokaku was probably blushing hard. My how accurate he was.

Kaze was now back in the kitchen and looking around the counters by the blenders and on the stovetop but alas he could not find that blasted milkshake. He shrugged and started from scratch, dumping the milk, sugar, and strawberries into a blender and starting to add the little touches that he assumed would make the milkshake taste better.

SLLLUUUURRRRP "Ah that hit the spot." Said a voice after an overly loud and unnecessary slurping of a beverage.

To which Kaze immediately responded "Hi Deku… how did you like my milkshake?"

Deku leaned in through the kitchen window, half of his body inside the house and half of his body outside, his legs dangling on the outside of the building. "Eh I'm personally a chocolate lover myself but not half bad. Definitely better than the little snot nosed reptile in the other room."

Kaze turned on the blender but that didn't stop him from being able to hear the thief. "I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be a feral wolf."

Deku waved his hand dismissively, placing the milkshake glass on the kitchen counter and nonchalantly rolled it into the sink, a move that could have potentially broken the glass if done carelessly but Deku was able to do it based on his skilled hands. "Same difference. So, I see we're playing favorites now? Only some Ultimates get milkshakes?"

Kaze replies simply with "They asked." And he wasn't planning on doing this anyway "Deku, I'm tired, I've had a long day, I would appreciate us not doing this right now."

Deku shrugs to himself "Well I care about you as much as you care about the Ultimate City, so I care about you a lot. And by that I mean I care about you clearly showing favoritism towards people like the photographer, the card dork, the bodyguard with a tight ass… I mean that figuratively not literally I wouldn't know anything about that, and of course the memory girl."

Kaze turned and crossed his arms, his eyes glaring a hole in the small thief. "We need to reach an understanding here, I do not give favoritism. I protect all citizens of the Ultimate City equally, but some clearly respect the Ultimate City more than others. You clearly don't respect the city, and don't respect me. That's fine, I don't care, but I will not tolerate you berating me and making a mockery of this city. I will protect you, but I do not have to like you, am I clear?!"

Deku "..." He was just silent for a few moments, the playfulness in his eyes gone as he sighed "Well that's no fun, but hey I did get to see what's really inside your soul Inquisitor. I'll catch you in a better mood then." With that he slid out of the window, leaving Kaze to question what exactly just happened but then he decided he didn't really want to linger on it, like most of the drivel that spilled out of Deku's mouth. With that he poured another milkshake for the creature actor and headed back out to the dining area, where Kyojin was being ignored by the three girls continuing to talk to one another instead of him, and he was pouting by himself on the stool most to the left, the one he was sitting in (as well as all the other ones leading to said stool) were tipped over likely in his overexcitement.

Kaze walked over to the stool and placed his milkshake down on it "See, I got you another milkshake, I didn't forget about you."

Kyojin's temperament seemed to be quenched when he saw the milkshake in front of him, the pink outlook of it showing that it was in fact strawberry and it delighted him so, him digging in right away sloppily just drinking it not even using a straw. While Kaze and the girls there seemed a bit off put by the lack of table manners, they could all agree that it was nice he at least seemed happy as well.

Kiaria looked up at Kaze with her usual pleasant smile "Kaze thank you, this was a very nice milkshake. It's like my taste buds were in perfect harmony." She bats her long eyelashes almost naturally not to be flirtatious but well, it did add to her cute charm she had.

Haruna being her usual self "Well I wouldn't stroke his ego, it was around a 6.5 a bit diluted but… still a milkshake is a milkshake. Thanks Kaze I appreciate the effort."

Tokaku smiled herself, her fingertips pressing together around her pendant "Ah yes you are a very kind man to do this for us. You may not be my type but I'm sure a lot of the people around here would appreciate your thoughtfulness."

Despite the strange way Tokaku put it he appreciated the compliments of the girls, and very shortly after said compliments Kyojin had finished his milkshake, the remnants of said beverage were located around his lips to which he licked up with his "longer than usual" tongue. He slammed his glass down in his excitement nearly chipping the poor thing and howled up to the ceiling "That was a great, great, GREAT milkshake! Now you only owe me two toys and we're even Kaze!"

Kaze lets out a small sigh knowing that he didn't plan on letting that go "Understood, well it is getting late. We should head back to the housing area and regroup with the others before we head to sleep." Kyojin and the girls nodded in agreement and soon departed from the store with him, the creature actor darting ahead on all fours somehow still having excess energy despite everything that happened that day, while Kaze was actually starting to trudge behind, the physical, mental, and emotional strain finally taking its toll and starting to wear the Inquisitor down. By the time he reached the residential area he was a full minute behind everyone else getting there, including the people he had just departed that area with.

He looked around and saw that Yuki was in the middle of a discussion with Kaori, Satoshi, and Takeshi, likely making sure everything was prepared for the election tomorrow. He lets a small grimace of anger come to his face knowing that once again it seemed he had found himself in just the wrong situation to not be able to talk to her. At the moment he didn't even seem to notice where the others were, his tiredness catching up with him as he sat on the steps leading up to his house, his eyes closing as his hands met with his head, his cheeks resting in his comforting palms. He just wanted to end this day but in his heart he knew he didn't want to be asleep while the others were still out and about, however his eyes were closing as he was about ready to fall asleep sitting up. He felt the dark comfort of sleep take him, and maybe tonight would be peaceful after all that he had just been through. Maybe…

Ding Dong, Dong Ding

Kaze and the rest of the Ultimates looked up, wondering what they could possibly want now. The loudspeaker came to life as the voice of the cheerful despairing mayor was rung throughout the entire district of the city.

"Ahem, it is now 10 p.m and is officially nighttime. At this time, certain doors in the city will be locked, speaking of which all residents should go into their homes and lock their doors. Sleep tight, don't let the Bedkumas bite. Puhuhu…. oh and P.S, will the selected student please report to the Monokubs Den for the night? Okay thanks!"" And then the loudspeaker clicked off, leaving every Ultimate to sit there and sigh and yet there was some relief there, for they had all had a long day and were just looking for an excuse to go to bed.

As the civilians of the Lost City of Talent were finally gathering back to the ultimates as they all seem tired as of a more or less tiring day of events and mishaps. Some of the survivors such as Kaoru and Orochi seem to already be on their way to the lands of Morpheus the moment they arrived back at camp. At least when they sleep it was a small break away from this hell hole of a city.

As the announcements finish Kaze noticed down the road the director has exited his house. After he gave a very dramatic bow "Now if you will all excuse me I have an obligation to complete." He stated those words although he made no real move to really go, and as he started looking back and forth quickly he had a very sudden realization. "I have absolutely no idea where I am going!?"

RISE AND SHINE URSINE

Appearing in front of the director was none other the the massive drill sergeant of the monokub that is Monogruff as the Ultimate looks up at him and gave a small wave. "Ah yes, hello Monogruff it would seem I do not know where you guys live and..." without a word Monogruff grabbed the orange wearing eccentric by the shoulders before tossing him up over his own shoulders as he turns around and began his exit. Daichi raised his head that was found planted to Gruff's masculine back. "Well so long everyone, I shall return in the morning, exiting stage left, I hope you all get along without me!" He waves to everyone though no one (which might be sort of concerning if you think about it) really paid much mind as the loony director is hauled off to Lord knows where.

Kaze looks over a tad as he was about to slip himself into his own house. Seeing Daichiev being dragged off to the Kub's lair did raise a good point. The Kubs are human, who had human needs regardless of how they present themselves, unless there is a unknown 7th kub that Kaze was unaware of, that would mean that they eventually they have to sleep and leave themselves unguarded. Which means whoever is piloting monokuma must also be asleep.

That means to the Lord Inquisitor this would be the perfect opportunity to search around the city for an escape route out of here, and now is the perfect time since he can search without being impeded by the kubs. Since it will be quite dark out maybe even the cameras wouldn't be that useful, their vision impaired by the nighttime atmosphere, all factors screaming to him that this could be his chance to escape. Of course not tonight, even if he is weird Daichi is still a part of the group and he would not leave any resident behind.

Find a way out tonight, and escape tomorrow.

A fool proof plan.

Kaze slowly enters his house to get a cup of the good stuff to get himself awake. He wasn't sure if there was such a thing as the Ultimate Coffee but it was the closest he felt to a good blend of Joe, his own personal brew. Kaze poured himself a glass of the bitter black nectar of the gods and took a big gulp the of piping hot liquid using the coffee's own heat and the caffeine in said beverage to wake him up.

Taking a moment to compose himself, he adjusted his hat so that it fit perfectly upon his head and then went and smoothed out his crimson trench coat. He looked into his mirror and turned his tie from a messy and loose sham of formal wear that it was after the Meat and Beat, and put it back into how it usually is meant to be. Finally, he checked the damages on his head, feeling that the wound is more or less sealed up. Kaze removed the wrapping and dumped them into the trash. He was a fast healer, one of the many things the hope filled man prided himself in.

Seeing himself ready, he removed his hat for only a second to run his hands through his green hair before putting the top hat back on. "Time to find a way out." With that he swung open his door and…

"EEPP" The loud cry made the man jump a bit as he felt a soft punch hit his chest, as he looks down a bit at who his would be attacker may be. Weirdly for him, he saw the Dancing Painter in mid knock looking up at him. Her hand touched his chest, and she kept that there and even opened up her hand to press her palm against his chest and feel the beats of his heart, which Kaze clearly wasn't completely comfortable with. "Oh… hi Kaze" she said simply trying to put an innocent inflexion to her voice.

Kaze looked down at her, her presence not at all being a part of his plan "What are you doing here Tsukasa?"

Tsukasa looks up at him with big eyes, a bit saddened by him being so distant "Oh well, I have been worried about you today. You see you've been working yourself so hard and you've been more brooding than usual, I assumed something was wrong so I wanted to cheer you up but.. you kept walking away from me." Has he been like that? He thinks back to today's events and he supposed that he never really did get a chance to talk to Tsukasa, even though the dance painted did seem genuinely concerned especially at the Meat and Beat. His mind does a small flash to Yuki, who was doing the exact same thing to him and he sighs heavily.

"Look Tsukasa, I appreciate the concern but I am fine, and you should head to bed I have some important business to attend to." Kaze began to walk past her, feeling slightly bad about this since she did seem genuinely concerned but he'd rather not put her in harm's way if he could avoid it. Unfortunately for him and his plan, Tsukasa started to follow him.

"Oh, important business? Can I come?" Tsukasa batted her eyelashes in his direction, which Kaze had to avoid looking at lest he become subject to adorableness swaying his judgement again.

"Tsukasa, I would rather you not, this matter is more important than you or I, please just go to bed and everything will be solved by tomorrow morning." Again she didn't seem to listen to him and continued to follow him as he walked down the street

"You can say no all you like but I know you're just being stubborn, and a woman should always stand by and support her man, that is just the way things work." Kaze had his hands ball into fists as she looked over at her just deciding to say it outright.

"Tsukasa, we are not married!" He said perhaps a bit louder than he needed or wanted to.

…..

"Well of course we aren't, we are betrothed. We just aren't married yet, silly Kaze." She playfully touches his arm and lets out a little giggle, to which Kaze let out a loud groan and put his face into the palm of his left hand. There was no use fighting it was there?

"Alright you can come, but stay quiet and if there's danger you need to stay behind me and stay safe, got it?" To which the dancing painter quickly nodded her head, a smile adorning her face as she moved a few strands of her blue hair out of her face, just happy to be able to help him in any way she could.

As they walked down the street to aout the Police Station, Tsukasa raised her hand for a moment, and then realizing she didn't need to ask for permission to ask a question this time, she just stated outright "So what are we doing anyway?"

Kaze turned to the police station and opened up the doors to the entrance, holding it open for her like any proper gentleman should. "We are looking for a way out, or any signs of telling us why we are here. Anything we can use to discover the truth of the city and use it to escape." After Tsukasa walked inside he quickly walked in after her closing the door behind them. He went to work immediately, overturning the cabinets and desks to try to find any files or secret compartments inside the station.

Tsukasa nods slightly and in her attempt to help lifted up a small bobblehead of a cop with a cheesy smile on his face, and looked at the bottom of the stand trying to find any significant value in it, to which of course she found nothing. "Don't worry Kaze, we'll find a way out even if we have to overturn every nook and bobblehead in the entire city!"

Tsukasa looking at the bobble head as she continues to poke the cop one she found. Kaze looking over at the desk seeing another bobblehead not to far from the bobblehead Tsukasa was playing with. Expect this one was standing straight and firm, with a serious look on his face in a white almost military outfit, with short black spiky hair and the sharpest red eyes that are below a pair stern intense eyebrows. Picking it up and bobble its head, Kaze felt his moral compass increase thoroughly. So thoroughly he decided that it would be better to hang onto this oddly familiar bobble heads.

Who knows, there might be more bobbleheads like this throughout the city. Something to think about.

Kaze rolled his eyes at her statement but nodded slightly "Yes and we do have all night, so as long as we find any indicator than the trip was worth taking."

And then in the middle of their investigation of the police statement, they heard what sounded like a loud BANG! go off somewhere in the distance, but like it was way off in the distance. Outside of the building and outside of anywhere they could search. "What was that?!" Tsukasa asked as she quickly attached herself to Kaze, embracing him in a hug to try to calm her nerves.

Kaze groans a bit but gave her a comforting pat on the back trying to calm her down. It's ok, likely doesn't concern us. Cities make noises at night, even lost ones, it's likely just the cubs doing something in their house. Did it do this last night after I was knocked unconscious?"He decided to ask her about this in order to try to inquire more information, to which she shook her head.

"I don't know, I didn't go out exploring last night, nobody did. It was our first night here and nobody wanted to test Mr. Kuma, not even Kaori and Takeshi."

Kaze nodded his head, a bit annoyed nobody tried any act of defiance last night but at the same time he understood. He just wished she wouldn't call him Mr., it implied seniority and complacency with her place being beneath him, that was far from ideal for an Ultimate citizen. "I understand, thank you Tsukasa. She beamed just at the prospect of Kaze considering her helpful.

For the next fifteen minutes or so, Kaze and Tsukasa searched the police station high and low but didn't find anything of value. They did find a couple files on some common criminals and profiles on members of the Ultimate Despair that were on the "kill on sight" list if they came even close to the borders of the city, but as for any files on the Ultimate City itself it looked like the place had been stripped clean of anything usable. Once Kaze determined it was pointless to continue, the two left the location and walked down the street, heading for the hospital located at the end of it.

As they walked down the streets they heard some sounds like grinding and some light creaking that seemed to be getting closer, but again that didn't seem to worry Kaze. He remembers when the Ultimate City was active even at nighttime the city seemed to come alive with noises from machinery and humans alike, the nights were never quiet in any city you came to, so he believed this wouldn't be any different. His guard was up but not for the city itself, for the city wasn't the problem, Monokuma and his "darling children" were.

They reached the end of the street and saw the hospital located there, and Kaze began to approach it, to which Tsukasa shivered at the idea of going into a dark and scary hospital at night in the dark. Her hand shot out and seemed to grip at air, and even though it was a strange gesture Kaze knew exactly what she wanted. He sighs slightly but extended his own hand, taking hers and instantly feeling the soft elegance of a painter's hand enter his grip. It was a gesture to keep her comfortable, not one of romanticism, but he felt like she would see it that way anyway. Sure enough, she blushed and the two headed inside.

The lobby of the hospital was as eerie as one would expect, the front desk having scattered papers around it, like whoever was managing it was taken away in the middle of their work schedule. The seats inside were dilapidated and covered in a pink substance, although Kaze just rolled his eyes at this. "Daichi was definitely in here, practicing his new doctor soap opera or whatever." Whether it was by Daichi or Monokuma himself, he knew this was just smoke and mirrors, nobody actually died here it was just to scare them It didn't stop Tsukasa from shivering but he moved forward with her trying to stop her from thinking up ways that this scene before them made sense.

"Kaze, I'm getting a bit frightened, can we skip this one?" Tsukasa asked as her body shook, to which Kaze regrettably shook his head.

"No I am sorry, every location is important. Don't worry, it won't take that long. Now we should start on the top floor and work our way-"

CLANG!

A sound echoed through the hallways of the hospital, the loud almost metallic sound coming from the upstairs area of the hospital, a sound that made Tsukasa jump straight into Kaze's arms, much to her comfort and his annoyance. She nuzzled her head into his chest scaredly, but again he didn't seem deterred.

"What did I say Tsukasa?The city is always alive, these sounds happen. Monokuma is likely just trying to frighten us, a pitiful attempt to keep us from exploring at night. It's much more likely a wheelchair just fell over or something." Without even feeling a smidgen of concern, Kaze began to walk up the stairs, Tsukasa still being held bridal style in his arms, again not out of any romanticism she just physically wouldn't get down and wouldn't move on her own.

Kaze made it to the second floor, and then ascended one more set of stairs to arrive at the third and highest floor of the building. He walked down the hallway with Tsukasa in his company, not at all frightened of anything. This was still his city, and nothing could catch him off guard in his own city. "Ok, let us head to the surgery room in the back. It is a good place to start loo-"

CCCCCCLLLLLLLLLAAAAANNNNNNKKKK! GRRRRIIIIND!

The sounds echoed through the hallway again as Tsukasa hid her head into his shoulder blade, to which Kaze rolled his eyes. Great, now not only was he being annoying but he kept interrupting his sentences. He saw a small hallway diverge from the straight path and head towards a small section of the hospital, the Maternity Ward. Kaze remembers how the idea was pitched, just in case these young Ultimates ever made an unholy mistake they did want to have staff ready to help them and deliver their children. It was a precautionary part of the hospital, but one Kaze never thought he'd have to actually enter.

Tsukasa felt her face heat up as they entered the maternity ward, her legs quivering a bit as her body shook in a mixture of fear and… something else. "Oh Kaze, we should wait. And besides I'm still so pure and you're-"

Kaze gently put his finger to her lips and shook his head. "Please, just be quiet while I check this out alright?"

She nods her head slightly and Kaze took a deep breath, walking into the maternity ward and he checked the inside of the room. It was very dark, the back of the room completely covered in nothing but a black abyss. What was visible from the back room was just the corner of a cabinet and the bottom segment of a bottle, likely a medicine cabinet there to assist the infants and the recent mothers through their recent trauma. And of course in the middle of the room were at least two dozen small cribs used for containing the recently birthed infants and holding them overnight. Kaze smiles a bit as he looked down at Tsukasa. "See, everything is fine. I told you, I know this-"

CCCCLLLLLAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Kaze's brow furrowed, ok he was really starting to get annoyed with the sentence interruptions. "Monokuma, knock it off, you're not funny." He said that directly at the ceiling, as if trying to communicate with the camera that he was certain was in the room.

"EEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!" Tsukasa screamed and then he felt her go limp slightly in his arms, like she was on the verge of passing out, her body paralyzed in fear, the only movement he felt was her constant shaking as he looked down at her concerned, and then the area she was looking at.

The cabinet was moving, medicine cabinet in the back was moving ass if something was resting against it. And in the small corner of the cabinet that he could see, Kaze could see that there was a white, three toed plushy paw there. Kaze felt a glare come to his face as he set down Tsukasa in a nearby wheelchair, making sure she was resting in it properly and had her her head propped back for balance. He was done playing games with Monokuma, with this disgusting little bear creature that was holding the city in his tiny little vice grip.

"Come out of the shadows! NOW!" Kaze screeched as he got into a fighting stance, that rage returning from just a little over 24 short hours ago. He was done with this, if Monokuma wanted to antagonize him he was going to fight back, he was not taking this sitting down.

And then the bear creature abided by his wish, the other paw stepping forward and yes it was black with three toes just like the other one, but the closer the creature got to him, Kaze was apparent of one thing. It was much, much

MUCH bigger than he was expecting.

The leg attached to the bear's white paw was thin and wiry, as if it was barely connected and made out of barely connected pipes only attached by joints. When the black leg came out, it was sturdy, like a hard metallic structure that was bulked out and hardened under a blacksmith's hammer. It went up to a sturdy, black and white seperated at the middle body, that was round and sturdy on both sides, meeting in the middle with a disgusting, protruding belly button that looks like it has been infected and had fungus spreading out of it, like the bear had been tossed away into a cesspool. The back of the creature had two empty sockets that looked like that's here it's other two legs should have gone but they were missing, as if the limbs had been violently torn out. As his line of sight went up the bear's right and black side, he noticed red stains of malice spread all over the bear's giant body, leading up to a very familiar and very iconic jagged red eye that glinted at him only worsened by the bear's mouth on that side protruding into a curved and twisted grin. And on the white side, light blue material stained down the creature's face as if the creature had been weeping over all the chaos it had caused, going up to an eye socket that looks like it had been busted open, a big, bloodshot, googly eye staring back at him, the eyeball jutting out as if only barely connected to the creature and it moved farther away from the socket every time the creature took a step.

CLANG!

CLLLANNNGGG!

CCCCCCCCCLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!

Every step an announcement of it's horrifying presence, every movement making the creature look like it was in physical pain. Kaze didn't know what this was, or why it was here, and why it was a Monokuma made from the deepest pit of nightmares. A creature that no human imagination should ever have to comprehend, a monster that makes no physical sense and has no rhyme or reason to exist.

Kaze learned two things from that encounter, that he would remember from this moment on if he made it out of that ward alive. As he stared back into the eyes of the creature, the "Monokuma", the one jagged red eye and the barely attached googly eye, it was all he could physically think of.

There were still things that terrified him

and

…. This really wasn't his city anymore.

 **So tell us what you think of our little surprise and if you guys have any thoughts on the future. Also yes the monokuma theater will now be in the beginning of every chapter. We appreciate your feedback and what you think of the characters it helps us write and really invested and we are going to finish this story sure we try not to have a 3 month haitus next time but don't worry the next chapter up should be done before June ends. I hope you guys all liked it, until next time!**


	7. A MOTIVEvational Election

**A/N Ok so yeah it took a long to make a chapter and we are sorry that it took so long sadly some very unfortunate things has occurred however that ends now, we can't say when the next chapter will be up however we hope you all like this chapter. However a knew poll will be up on my profile soon.**

[Monokuma Theater]

Fear it is an emotion that we all feel from time to time. Even me the great Monokuma. Fear is awful you get it at the worst possible time especially when your crush is out, or when you're about to get into a fight. Or if you're a real loser every social interaction that wasn't being filtered through a computer or a phone. Most humans I know are scared of usually the lame stuff, but I got it when I was just the smallest and most adorable kub out there, I was scared of a lot of weird stuff, like strawberry flavored toothpaste, the short bus and of course giant squids. But now that I am older and full of life experience i fear practical stuff like taxes, price on gas and giant squids.

[End of Monokuma theater]

"Remember Kaze, you are an Inquisitor. To look into the eyes of despair is your duty and one only you can do. You cannot flinch, for you are a warrior that upholds the law, the word of god, and hope all in one. You are a divine soldier of justice, so repeat after me. When I look in the eyes of despair, I will not flinch."

"When I look in the eyes of despair, I will not flinch."

A long gone memory, from a much simpler time. A time before the world went completely mad, a time when despair hadn't brought the ideal of hope to its knees. Yet in the years since Kaze has never staggered, never wavered in his ideals that despair could still be beaten. He was the Ultimate Inquisitor, and he was the one who could rally the Ultimates together to fight against the darkness that tried our generation. The destruction of his city could not break him, Monokuma could not break him, the Monokubs could not break him.

But for the first time, in the prescience of this abominable, disgusting molten scrap heap of a monstrous contraption.. he flinched. He found himself frozen, staring down a despicable image only left to the furthest reach of one's nightmares. The Monokuma just sat there for a solid minute, staring at the Inquisitor as it's one misshapen bloodshot eye jiggled in its socket, every slight movement making it look like it was in physical pain from the jarring motions its body parts went through, its body moving up and down in place like it was mimicking the human motion of heavy breathing, raggedy mechanical breaths that would invade Kaze's dreams for weeks, months, even years to come.

And then a single flash of it's red, jagged eye lit up the room and Kaze's field of vision, and then the creature opened up it's maw revealing nothing but darkness and gears inside. It pounded it's front legs against the floor and with surprising quickness lurched it's body forward, the two limbs somehow able to support the creature's weight enough to drag itself across the hospital floor to approach the Inquisitor with its mouth wide open. The Monokuma charged itself at the inquisitor, ready to swallow him whole into the bottomless pit that was despair incarnate.

When the creature finally came within biting distance, Kaze's eyes seemed to flash themselves, like his instincts took over as he had to roll out of the way to avoid the bite,the creature missing wildly as it flopped forward but was able to pick itself back up quickly, and turn around to face the Inquisitor once again, who himself was looking around the room for anything that could use to fight back against the Monokuma menace. Unfortunately as this was the maternity ward his choices were limited to a baby bottle, a pacifier, and blankets. His hand instinctively went to his sleeve, and he cursed under his breath the name Takeshi for the weapon that wasn't there. That incident has come back to haunt him more than kharma would ever deem necessary at this point.

Kaze looked back up at the creature and his eyes turned dark when he saw what the image in front of him turned out to be. The creature was looming over Tsukasa, asleep in her wheelchair, unconscious from shock as her body was vulnerable to the creature's massive jaws. The creature gripped the sides of the wheelchair with it's two limbs, and opened it's maw to swallow her whole along with the chair and all. Kaze let out a loud scream of somewhere in between panic and rage as he grabbed the blanket in a desperate effort to use something to his advantage, and then he lunged onto the creature's back, pressing his legs together as an attempt to grip onto the creature's sides. The Monokuma paused temporarily to wonder what just got onto it's back, pausing in his attempt to devour the dancing, painting ultimate. As it looked from side to side, Kaze used his hands to grip both sides of the blanket, rolling it up so that it was straight and thin like he was gripping both ends of a rope and then he whipped the blanket above the monster bear's head and then yanked back, forcing the creature backwards enough to rip it's grip off of the wheelchair and away from Tsukasa's form.

The robotic creature let out a small mechanized grunt of annoyance as it lurched backwards, trying to force Kaze off of its body but Kaze refused to let go, taking all of the attention away from her and putting it squarely onto himself was exactly what he wanted. And unfortunately, that is exactly what he got. The Monokuma steadied its hands onto the ground and then sent its head back flying into Kaze, the metallic head of the Monokuma slamming straight into Kaze's face, the back end of a full metal headbutt loosening his grip on the blanket as a stream of blood came out of his nose and pooled onto the Monokuma's neck, only adding to the streams of liquid appearing to come out of the body of this abomination at all times. To add injury to Kaze's… well injury the Monokuma then threw itself backward straight into the medicine cabinet behind them, and Kaze showed a small sign of weakness by letting out a scream of pain as he felt himself go through the glass cabinet, shards of glass piercing his back as medicine of various colors splashed onto both him and the Monokuma, coating both combatants in medicinal liquids of multiple strengths and hues.

Kaze breathed heavy as a stream of light brown liquid ran down over his right eye, making his vision murky as he tried to force himself up, letting out a groan of pain jus from the action of movement with large shards of the glass pane lodged in his back, tearing up the fabric of his trenchcoat and filling it with more holes than poorly cut Swiss cheese. The Inquisitor forced himself back onto his feet with pure adrenaline coursing through his veins, not about to let this mechanical monstrosity get the better of him. The Monokuma then turned to lunge his way again, attempting to get the drop on Kaze but the Ultimate was ready as he gripped the sides of the medicine cabinet and with all his strength he dumped the entirety of the cabinet right onto the creature itself, temporarily stunning it underneath the giant Monokuma thrashed around under the cabinet, trying to force itself free and as it was making progress, it gave Kaze an opportunity to regain his bearings and make his way over to Tsukasa, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his tattered coat to try to regain some vision in them.

"Tsukasa!" Kaze firmly stated her name to her while shaking her trying to force her from her slumber but the poor girl was out of it. He couldn't really blame her, the shock of the past two days plus this would be too much for any person not named Kaze, but still it was a major annoyance. He dusted off his shoulder to ensure that no shards of glass were protruding from it, which unfortunately and painfully at the time there were, and then put Tsukasa over it to begin the process of carrying her out of the hospital. Thankfully there wasn't anything else around to try to get a sneak peek up Tsukasa's skirt, why anyone would try to look up there in a time like this would be unsure but you know… Japan.

Kaze after a small struggle to get the door open with his arm occupied got it open and stumbled out with Tsukasa, the fight taking a toll on his body and making his vision blurry just with all the substances that creeped back down into his line of sight. He noticed that the monster was beginning to regain it's balance, but he turned and raised his foot for a mighty kick into the wheelchair Tsukasa had previously been sitting in, making it skid forward into the creature's body at least slowing it down for a few moments allowing Kaze to begin his escape from the hospital. He moved towards the stairs and began to descend them, moving forward slower than he would like but with exhaustion, injuries, and Tsukasa in his right arm he was just thankful there was a railing to help guide him down. He got down to the second floor after a short while and then took some heavy breaths, hunching over slightly to regain his composure and noticed the trinkle of pink liquid coming out of his nose. It appears that he was bleeding, the impact of the mechanical headbutt likely breaking the bone in his nose and making it unable for him to top the oozing liquid at the moment. With a heavy sigh he looked around, his head starting to feel light as blood escaped from his nostrils, if he didn't stop the bleeding soon he wouldn't be in any condition to continue which irritated him to no end but alas, it was how it was. Kaze kept Tsukasa in his arm and moved to an adjacent room, finding equipment itself that was likely used for more serious ailments requiring surgery, such as scalpels, forceps, gauze, and even…. hydrochloric acid? What type of hospital is this? Kaze out of curiosity picked it up and saw the label on it… and became entirely unamused at what he saw.

"Dr. Killgood's hydrochloric acid! Remember, if you're going to kill someone, remember to melt their bones and leave no trace afterwards! Just find a tub and a hacksaw and you can complete the set! Note: does not contain tub and hacksaw. Find the rest on your own you lazy kids." On the label was a Monokuma dressed in a doctor's outfit holding a giant needle. He jostled around the bottle for a moment and heard the sound of the liquid hitting the basin inside so there was in fact still some of the acid in there. He thought for a moment and then grabbed the scalpel from the spot on the surgical table, putting it in the holster where his hidden blade used to be. It was no replacement for the weapon but well… it was better than nothing. He then grabbed the gauze from the table as well and just tore off a small piece of fabric from the tape and jammed it into his nostrils, both of them. While not the most effective way of handling it it did stop the bleeding at least for a while, to which he let out a sigh of relief. He took another quick moment to look around to which he saw an operating table, taking the moment to sit on it and he placed Tsukasa next to him to give his arm a rest. Normally the Inquisitor would like to rush out of there as soon as possible but since he was injured and had to carry her around this wasn't something he could afford to do haphazardly.

When he sat down on the operating table in the hospital room he noticed that there was a small little bobblehead tied down in small little cables next to him. The legs of it were spread making it look rather… indecent especially considering the bobblehead for whatever reason didn't seem to be wearing underwear. It was wearing a white nurse's outfit with stringy purple hair that went down the sides of its face as well as down the back of the bobbleheads head, running down its back. The soft eyes and frown on its face gave it a clearly feminine look, and from the look on it's face it wasn't representing a very happy woman. He feels like if the bobblehead would say anything, it would be "I-I'm sorry…". He used the forceps to cut the small cables holding it to the table and put it into his pocket along with the one from the police station.

CCCCCRRRRRRAAAAASSSSHHHHHH!

Kaze heard it come from the floor above and instantly recognized the situation. The Monokuma was free, and would likely be pursuing them for quite a while to come. They needed to escape the hospital, being trapped in here with limited weapon options was not the situation that he wanted to be in right now. As Kaze heard the clang of the footsteps approached the stairs, he knew that he had to get them into a more favorable position, so he turned to the side of him and grabbed Tsukasa's shoulders, and quickly began to shake them trying to jostle her awake.

CLANG! CLANG!

The sound of the approaching footsteps hit the hospital stairs, descending down to the second floor where Kaze and Tsukasa were currently residing. Kaze quieted down hs motions, being sure to make as little sound as he could whilst also trying to arouse Tsukasa from her slumber "Tsukasa, you have to wake up!" He yelled in a whisper, making sure his voice was forceful but quiet. "Tsukasa! Tsukasa!" He shook her harder and he finally felt her arm move, like she was in the beginning stages of waking up and yet her body was still quite possibly in shut down for she quickly returned to being limp again. Again he understood, shock is a horrible thing to go through and the body needs rest from not just physical but mental damage but right now he really needed her to be able to run on her own.

"CCCLLLLLUUNNK!

It was a loud sound that echoed across the second floor as the monster reached its desired location, it's feet resting on the tiled ground of the hospital floor before it began to cross the hallway. Kaze made a silent curse, hoping maybe the creature would be dumb and just head to the first floor without checking the rooms but no, it seemed to understand at least basic predatorial skills. Instead of trusting his instincts and running Kaze decided to play it safe and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass, and if Tsukasa didn't wake up could quite possibly cost her her life as well, she was in the most vulnerable spot of anyone right now after all.

CREAK!

The sound of a door opening occurred down the hall, the first door of them all creaking open slowly like the creature seemed to understand the art of opening doors, so it at least had a basic level of intelligence. As it moved Kaze leaned against the wall next to the door quietly, staying on the side of where the door would open up so if the monster did come in here he could hide here and pretend to not be in the room. He cradled Tsukasa in his arms to try to make them as small as possible, and right now he was glad she was asleep otherwise she would definitely be taking this the wrong way.

CREAK!

The second door was open, the last one before this room would be checked. If Kaze could just get it to go on the other side of this door, he could grab Tsukasa and try to run. He had his strength back, so trying to outpace it was his best chance, which if he went into a full out sprint he knew he could outpace a Monokuma with a few parts missing even if he was carrying her. The Monokuma was definitely stronger but Kaze was faster and smarter, all e had to do was get a small lead, enough to get out of reach and he could take off and leave the rootic menace behind in the dust.

CCCCRRREEEEAAAAKKKKK!

The Monokuma was right next to him. He could feel it's prescience right on the other side of the door, just feeling the beast's eyes on him through the door like the creature had to know he was in there. He heard the door begin to open and he cradled the body of the dancing painter closer, stopping his own breathing and even putting a hand over her mouth to silence any sound coming from her. He saw the metallic paw grip the frame of the door as the head peeked into the room, examining the surroundings in front of it. The sheer power of the beast chipped the door's paint as the claws clacked against the frame. Kaze was so close to the creature he could hear the soft whirr of it muttering something under it's breath in a low, menacing, and almost automatic sounding way.

PU HU HU HU HU HU!

It seemed to be making that noise on it's own involuntarily, the automatic sound coming from it's lips whether it knew it or not as the sound of the moving cogs in the creature's mechanical circuits got closer and closer as it moved it's head towards the edge of the door frame Kaze himself was leaning on, making sure not to utter a single peep. For the next few moments, it was nothing but silence, except for the low sound escaping the creature's maw there was no noise, no movement, no discord… nothing.

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

The Monokuma's paw slowly let go of the door frame as it's frame retreated through the door slowly, it's analysis of the room complete on its end, allowing Kaze to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Now it was just the simple act of allowing the creature to take a few steps, and then he would book it. He had to escape, not just for his sake but for…

"MMMPH! KASHE?! WHAT'S GOING ON!? … Tsukasa's.

Son of a bitch

PU HU HU HU HU HU

Suddenly the paw lashed around the corner as Kaze quickly jumped down to the floor, a scream escaping Tsukasa's lips as she fell backwards onto her butt in complete shock on what was happening around her. The Monokuma struck the spot where Kaze was with such force that it created an indent in the wall from the power of its swipe, its claws so sharp that they stuck into the walls like tendrils before they were brought back to the bears body, the red eye of the creature glistening as it watched its prey slowly got back onto his feet. Like a cat playing with his food, the Monokuma jolted forward and rammed the side of its body into Kaze, the metallic body hitting him in the chest so hard it felt like he was about to cave in his torso, forcing Kaze back up and over the operating table though he was able to nimbly land on his feet after the blow. Tsukasa was smart and was able to back herself up so as to not be the center of attention and allowed the bear to focus on Kaze, to whom she wanted to help but her body was just frozen with fear, the helpless feeling consuming her and making her unable to help in the confrontation. Besides with no formal combat training what help could she be against an 8 foot tall behemoth of a mechanical bear?

Kaze felt the pain shoot through his body but he knew he had to stay strong as he then grabbed the operating table and pushed against it, his body mass and muscular physique able to force the table back towards the bear who took the hit to its stomach like it was nothing and then threw it to the side, allowing Kaze the time to unsheath his scalpel and in the moment attempted to jam it into the creature's neck, it was a desperation move and well, it worked about as well as you assume it would.

PU HU HU HU HU HU

It let out that mechanical whirr again as if it was mocking Kaze before the creature lurched forward and attempted to bite down on Kaze's skull, with which the Inquisitor had to quickly dodge to the side to avoid being immediately killed. The lurching motion allowed a small hole in the doorway that the Monokuma wasn't blocking, and Tsukasa was able to squeeze through in order to get out of the room. The monster felt something brush by him and attempted to turn the corner in order to pursue her, allowing Kaze the opportunity to pick up something special off the floor and jump onto the creature's back, the beast seeming to be a bit confused before Kaze slammed his foot into the back of its head, causing it to stumble forward into the hallway and at least allowing Kaze some breathing room rather than being forced into a corner in that room. Unfortunately he ended up on the wrong side of the hallway, the giant Monokuma being between him and the staircase. Tsukasa was able to make it to the other side thank god and was waiting on the staircase, likely hesitant to completely leave Kaze behind and was looking for anything she could use to help. The creature saw her and was likely about to pursue her yet again, it's attempt to catch and devour both of them seeming to be a bad habit for it as it allowed Kaze to ready himself.

"Hey ugly," Kaze let out that stark remark to get the beast's attention, and as it did turn Kaze released his weapon of choice, right into the creature's face. A splash of acid was sent off, Dr. Killgood's Hydrochloric Acid to be precise, dousing the creature's face in the clear liquid and unfortunately getting on Kaze's clothes, burning through his shirt as he let out a cry of agony feeling the acid seep into his chest and cause a burning sensation. That was just a small drop however, the creature got a bottle full of it straight into its face, mouth, and eyes, as the sound of mechanical whirrs and cranks filled the air as the Monokuma stumbled on its four legs, crashing into the walls and letting out mechanical roars of pain as it was beginning to show signs of damage on its head, rust eating through its mechanical skull and brain and seeming to throw the entire equilibrium of the monster off as it lurched forward without a purpose or thought, any sense of rational reasoning lost when its pain sensors began to click together. Kaze tried to use this opportunity to rush past the creature but just then it thrashed out, two of the legs spinning to the side and catching the young ultimate straight in the chest and sending him flying back against the wall. Kaze clutched his chest yet again, all this pain beginning to overwhelm even him, perhaps one of the finest examples of being at your physical peak.

PU HU HU HU HU HU

That mechanical whirr again, it was beginning to get on Kaze's nerves, like it was doing it on purpose at this point. Without any liquid in the jar Kaze tossed it to the side and heard it crash uselessly against the hospital floor, no point in keeping it on his person. He leaned against the wall and felt the pain of glass against it, a window of sorts. He looked outside and could see the plaza hosting all of the houses on it, with the moon shining down on them it looked so peaceful, Kaze in his loopy state let a rare smile shine to his face, forgetting about the pained creature that was hunting him and just taking a moment to enjoy the city in what was left of its innocence.

"KAZE LOOK OUT!" That knocked him out of his state a bit too late, as he heard the mechanized clacking of the creatures feet on the hard tiled floor right before he felt close to 800 pounds of raw metal crash into him. In the next coming seconds, Kaze would feel what at that moment…

… was the worst pain of his entire life.

The creature slammed into him, knocking him not just against the wall, but the glass pane of the window and it gave way, the Inquisitor's 215 pound body of raw muscle being thrown through as he fell from the second story window and to the other side of the alleyway below, shard of glass lodging themselves into his back, legs, arms, shoulders and even some in the back of his head. A ten foot drop then came after as Kaze caught perhaps the only lucky break of the night and slammed not against solid concrete, which likely would've lead to his maker if he collided with it, and into dumpster, the relatively soft trash of aluminum cans and paper towels so much better than the hard concrete of the paved road. That didn't stop Kaze from feeling nothing but intense pain throughout his whole body, the shards of glass lodged now inside of him from the fall as he couldn't even scream, he just felt his body shake and rack with nothing but the most severe waves of punishment he could feel. Before he even had time to register that pain fully he then felt another steep rush of that feeling as something smashed against his leg and the top of his pelvis, which made Kaze feel like he was about to cry tears of pure unadulterated anguish. His eyes darted to what they were and they were small slabs of concrete, his eyes then attempting to find the source and he found it in the form of a giant hole in the second story of the hospital. It looked like the creature had smashed it's way through, either from the impact of the collision itself or from having something knocked loose in its data banks and its brain thinking this was the best course of action to follow Kaze. Either way Kaze was able to form the thought that meant the creature was down on alley level with him, and that thought was enough to at least get through the pain of getting up. The second he made the decision to climb out of that dumpster he felt a sensation of immediate pain through his back as he practically fell forward against the wall of the dumpster, his ars clinging to whatever they could as he forced his way outside and crawled on top of the lip of the dumpster before practically lunging to the alleyway a short few feet below, but just landing felt like it took what little remained of his stamina out of him as he fell to his knees. Kaze felt it again, the feeling of the pink liquid washing against him as it was now just leaking out of his body through his arms, his legs, his back, his nose yet again as the gauze couldn't stop it from coming this time. It was horrible, the worst Kaze has ever felt the feeling of blood in his entire career as an Inquisitor, even when going against the Ultimate Despair he has never felt this weakened, this vulnerable, this close to collapse from physical pain.

His second lucky break was that he was not the only one in a bad way, as he saw next to him the Monokuma had crashed down into the ground hard, leaving a small crater amongst all the other cracks left in the road from the destruction of the city. One of its legs had been removed from its system, breaking and jutting out from the collision of all that weight against the road, the rest of them just kind of moving on their own without any rhyme or reason just moving for the sake of moving. Something broke in its head, which would be apparent as the head of the creature had been smashed against the road, as the creature practically swan dived in the fell and landed neck first against the road, even it's sturdy body unable to keep it together as it was practically decapitated, only hanging on from a few loose wires. It eye just spun around in circles in its head, well the crying one, the bulb in the red jagged one had gone out making it cold and more lifeless than it already was. The creature was effectively dead but still had some form of function, and Kaze wouldn't feel satisfied until it was fully out of commission. Using most of the strength left in his body, Kaze crawled forward on his hands and knees, and came across lucky break number three, the scalpel in his possession was on the ground with him, likely flying out the window in the crash as well. Kaze took it and made his way towards the creature, making it next to the Monokuma's head before stopping on his knees and raising himself up. In its last moments, the creature's crying eye darted up and stared into his, and it almost looked…. amused.

PU HU HU HUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

The final sound escaping it body before its software finally shut down as Kaze rammed the scalpel again and again into the Monokuma's wiring, slashing and hacking at it with all his might before all the wires were finally cut and the head fell from the shoulders of the giant mechanical bear, rolling a short distance before stopping dead in the alleyway. Kaze then finally fell down onto the ground and his eyes closed, sweat and blood falling down his face and hitting the unforgiving road below.

It was over, finally over, yet Kaze felt nothing but pain and loss. Loss, one of it not his only loss, at least his only loss that he can remember, to a foe in an encounter. He could blame many things, Tsukasa's prescience, being taken off guard, the lack of his hidden blade, yet he realized that without luck he would have been dead right here, a fallen guardian in this lost city. For once in his life, Kaze not only felt like he lost, but he felt like a regular person, just another resident that this city has taken from. He closed his eyes for a moment, just wanting to rest after his small victory, but the rest would not come.

"KAZE! KAZZZEEEE WAKE UP!" He was being shaken after a just having his eyes closed for a minute, and hearing the screaming voice of a female basically in his ear he stubbornly groaned and even swatted a bit at the air like a teenager trying to turn off his alarm not wanting to go to school. The exact opposite reaction happened though as he felt his body be hugged, and he opened his eyes to see Tsukasa on him, her wet tears falling onto his body adding to the mixture of fluids on him at this point. "Oh Kaze I thought the monster got you, and it would have been all my fault! I'm so sorry you're so hurt!" She nuzzled her head into his chest, wiping the tears off on his now barely even there anymore shirt, it was kind of more just strips of cloth than anything at this point, and unfortunately when she looked up now her face had a bloodstain on her cheek and nose, perfect now he feels guilty for making her worry.

"It's…. ok… let's just go back…" He spoke slowly, the effort to even communicate a struggle as he was forcing himself at least into a sitting position before letting out a loud cry of pain from well…. everything hurting. Tsukasa instantly felt her compassion take over and went around the corner, before returning moments later with of all things, a gurney.

"I… I figured if you were hurt and couldn't move I could take you home," she said that rather shyly, as if she was just realizing how strange it would be for tiny barely over 100 pounds soaking wet Tsukasa to be wheeling 200 plus pound Kaze and a gurney to the house down a long street, well at least it was slightly sloped so momentum could help out there. Kaze felt himself even let out a chuckle out of just how ridiculous and yet sweet that was as he was slowly able to force himself up to his feet, partly out of sheer stubborn will but also that it just didn't feel right making Tsukasa worry like that. Kaze was able to move himself towards the gurney and land chest first on it, making a small "off" sound as he hit it feeling his liquids fall onto it creating a watered-down pink stain on it. Everything hurt, but he had to keep going. Tsukasa seemed to help support him as he nodded in her direction with a subtle showing of appreciation, thankful for the assistance in being able to move forward, the gurney acting as a walker of sorts to keep him steady and Tsukasa was able to slightly pull him along and keep him going in the right direction.

"T-that monster didn't hurt you too bad did it?" Tsukasa asked him with a worried expression on her bloodied face that was in fact from his own blood. He felt almost obligated to give her a sarcastic reply on how all these cuts, bruises, and pieces of glass in his body were nothing and how he was just fine, but being Kaze he gave the blunt yet reassuring answer.

"Yes, yes he did. But I will get better and the creature is dead." He looked over for a moment and saw the severed head of the Monokuma and then paused for a moment "Tsukasa… grab it." The dance painter jumped a bit just hearing him say that so casually that she actually wasn't sure how to react.

"Grab… grab that thing's head?" She felt as though she had to repeat it to make sure that was what he asked, to which he simply nodded his head in reassurance. "... Grab the severed head and bring it to you?" Ok so she had to repeat it twice, making certain, and yes he nodded again. "... Ok so just to be perfectly, crystal-"

"Tsukasa please, I have a hunch and to prove it I need it. I… can't move to get it myself, I need to conserve strength just to get home, I need your help." That was a phrase that Kaze usually didn't have to utter but now was not a time to conserve pride, now was a time to get things done and get home safe. Though to Tsukasa, hearing the Ultimate Inquisitor that she totally didn't have an obvious crush on say that he needed her help just made her heart skip a beat and threaten to burst out of her chest and do a happy Irish jig. She quickly nodded her head in return and dashed over, and though she paused seeing the crooked smile and melted face of the Monokuma, she began to roll it over to Kaze feeling the weight of the head itself be almost too much for her to carry. With perseverance and the power of her petite muscles that were only used to carrying paintbrushes being amped by the power of a teenager's hormones, she picked up the head and placed it on the gurney, panting a bit in exhaustion but moved her head to his direction and placed a bright smile on it. "I did it, there you go."

Kaze looked over and did a small smile, giving her an encouraging thumbs up to make her happy with the hard work she put in, and she was. They began to make their way down to the housing district, and it was going smoothly all things creature patrolling the nights was dead, what else was there to worry about? Well, plenty actually, after all…

PU HU HU HU HU HU

Who said there was only one of them?

Upon hearing the call of the Kuma, Kaze turned around and he saw it, peeking around the corner from the first street was the head of another giant, murderous Monokuma, it's jagged and crying eye looking at them both hungrily. Kaze couldn't believe it, another one? But… he just ended this, the nightmare should be ending soon. But it didn't, nor would it be stopping there as he saw more of them. Several coming from the park, the sewers, the streets, Ultimart… everywhere. It was as if they couldn't hear the Monokuma in the Hospital, but from the street, they were all joining together as one mass. Dozens of them, varying in sizes but all bigger than Kaze, and all baring their sharp teeth ready to devour them. It was an image straight out of the bowels of Hell, an image that made Kaze question the reality he was in. Battling one took all of the energy from his body and left him bloodied and bruised… and there were DOZENS OF THEM?!

His city…. his precious city…. overrun with the ursine menace. His pupils seemed to go blank and lose life for a moment but before he could allow himself to be dragged into the pits of despair he felt a shake on his shoulder "RRRRUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!"

It was a simple word, and a simple action, but just upon hearing the voice of his dance painting guardian angel in that moment, he took action. He gripped the gurney and nodded quickly, using all of the power remaining in his body he grabbed her and tossed her onto the gurney, with which she landed stomach first and let out a small gasp asher legs kicked in protest to the vulnerable position. Cue japanese panty shot, and then they were on their way as Kaze gripped the cart and forced his legs to move, feeling the pain in his legs and all throughout his spine having to support the movement while in so much pain. Nevertheless he bolted, the adrenaline and desire to stay alive coursing through him as he shoved the gurney along the cracked road, thanking God himself for the downhill slope that right now was making this so much easier.

It wasn't long before the Monokumas gave chase, letting out their mechanical whirrs and creaks as they pounded their legs against the ground, their robotic brains all focusing on the delicious meals in front of them, the desire to destroy and devour still all encompassing them despite not having taste buds or even stomachs. Kaze raced against them with all the speed still left in his body as he made it to the central plaza of the housing district, seeing the first house of the block gave him hope as he zoomed past them with only the thought in his mind to get to the house. Tsukasa looked up at him and focused on him, for if she looked back at the creatures she knew she would lose all feeling in her body and pass out again. He was near fearless and she kew the sensation of fear from the moment they first woke up in this city, It was such a contrast between them but right now that contrast was saving them, ut only through the quick thinking of her to grab this gurney.

Kaze then did some quick thinking as they made their way to the house, taking one arm off of the gurney and reaching into his pocket to pull out the key to his house, which he quickly gave to Tsukasa. "Take it, you're closer and faster! When we get to the house you'll be better off opening the door!" He screamed to be heard above the whirrs of the machines and she nodded her head not able to offer any rebuttal and just snatched the key from his hand as he leaned forward to give it to her, that action costing him as he fell forward, letting the gurney slide forward as it hit the small little set of stairs that led to his home on the hill overlooking all of the others. She crashed into it and tumbled off the gurney, the head of the Monokuma landing next to her with a thud and startling the poor girl, who then quickly jumped up to check on Kaze who was having the distance closed behind him by the Monokumas. "KAZE!" She screamed out for him.

"GO! I'M FINE GO!" He yelled out to ensure her safety as she followed his orders and ran to the front door, fumbling with the key for a few moments before sticking it into the door and opening it, rushing herself inside as she held the door open for him. Kaze quickly got back up to his feet and ran, then turned that run into a full on sprint, racing these Monokumas to his house as he hit the gurney, his arms grasping it to shove past it as the Monokumas were catching up to just a mere few feet behind him. In a moment of pure desperation, Kaze grabbed the gurney with two hands, and then launched it at the Kumas, and like a set of bowling pins it hit the one in front and made it stumble back into the others, throwing the balance off of all of them and allowing Kaze the time to grab the head and chuck it like a baseball inside of his home before diving in himself, right before the Monokumas finally rushed towards the door reaching the staircase quickly. "CLOSE IT!" And the second those words exited his lips the door was slammed shut, followed by a loud bang. And then another one, and another one, and another one, and then about 12 more another ones, before finally stopping. They waited there for a few seconds, not moving, talking or even breathing. After minutes passed by that felt like hours….it was over. It stopped, they were safe… for now.

"The nightmare is over…" Kaze breathed out although he felt Tsukasa shaking next to him as he sighed but patted her shoulder a bit, the time for modesty was later but for now he put an arm around her and just let her embrace him, tears of fear and joy running down his practically bear chest, his suit torn to shreds after the struggle and the ensuing escape, but it was fine, Monokuma stocked his closet with dozens of the same outfits anyway, it wasn't a huge loss. Somehow his top hat never fell of, like it was an extension of his, almost glued to his head that nothing this side of Deku could take away from his scalp.

The gesture was one of comfort not romance, and for once it seemed like Tsukasa understood that as she sobbed relentlessly against him. "T-thank you….. thank you so much Kaze!" She bawled into him like a frightened child, which at this moment wasn't too far off from the truth. He just nodded and rubbed her back, too tired to speak so he consoled with his arms as his eyes closed. What were those things? Why were they here? Did they only present themselves at nighttime? The time for thoughts of this and discussion would come later. No more thinking, no more internal monologues… for now just rest.

"You can take the bed." He grunted out without tact, to which she nodded into his chest not arguing, even though the idea of sleeping in a man's bed did embarrass her and even frighten her slightly, though it being Kaze's bed did give her the slightest tingle of excitement… followed immediately by more embarrassment. She began to walk upstairs after checking his fridge and getting a bottle of water, not for her but for him as she set it on the table, disappearing into the upper floor of the house and closing the door to Kaze's bedroom. She was semi-expecting Kaze to follow her but no… the time for rest was now, as in right now, and right here.

Kaze slept on the floor that night, too tired and beat up to move or even think straight. It's like e had been in a car crash, an all too familiar feeling for the lonesome inquisitor. He did stir, and something did touch his body, liquid ra down him, and even something warm touched his body. But he slept through it all, no horrid dreams, no flashbacks, a peaceful dead sleep for once in his life.

He should enjoy it while he can.

…

He stared at the ceiling. He was finally awake and he stared at the ceiling of his house. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and then that fire was put out by a dozen firemen simultaneously spraying him with fire hoses, and then stomping on him for good measure. Any questions of whether last night was real or not quickly vanished as he felt his body ache and for a solid hour he just laid there on the floor of his home, a small miracle he didn't succumb to shock while he slept, but that miracle made reality when he looked down and saw something that made him smile… and feel only slightly disturbed. It was a plain white blanket, a default one that came with his bed, but on it was a drawing painted in what looked like nail polish. It was a drawing of Kaze and Tsukasa, both of their outlines pink and that scene of his arm wrapped around her shoulders while she cried, his shirt torn but that firm look of determination etched in surprising detail for just being painted with nail polish. And under it all, was something painted in yellow, glittery nail polish in large, bold letters.

My Hero

It made him sigh, and yet smile. At least somebody liked him in this city, albeit misinterpreting his actions but at least it seemed like she did like him for who he was, and who he made himself to be. A guardian of this city and its residents, nothing more, nothing less. If he had to defend them from ravenous Monokumas every night he would… but he would never go seeking out that type of punishment again no sir.

He got up and picked up the blanket, the effort to do so excruciating but it was something he just had to do. As he got up he looked down and saw that his body had been taped up, his bruises and cuts had been covered by gauze and bandages and… lipstick? Please do not tell him she kissed his "boo-boos" to make it better, why are all women such nurturers when it comes to injuries? He wouldn't complain though, it made the job of cleaning up easier. But when he fully stood up, and after gaining his equilibrium from wobbling for a few seconds… he noticed his floor was spotless, and a set of his clothes had been laid out on the counter. It was as if everything was normal. Kaze closed his eyes and let the smile show across his face.

Tsukasa… he'd have to thank her later. He slowly moved his way over to the stove and checked the time, to which his eyes immediately widened in shock. 11:30! It was 11:30 in the morning! He had slept through almost the entire morning and the election was in 30 minutes! He got dressed within five minutes, which was as quick as he could dress especially with his painful injuries, and then made for the door. But as he did he noticed something that made him scowl, and then hit his head against the door in annoyance. "Well… not everything can be perfect." As he left, behind him the scene showed the walls of the interior of his house, his sparkly pink walls with purple and yellow butterflies and flowers drawn onto them.

That also used to be white.

….

Kaze found himself after leaving his household and entering this despair filled world of the Lost City of Talent. As he walks down the broken roads of this once majesty of human construct, it was rather somber. Silence since he didn't see any of the other ultimates were nowhere to be seen he wonder where they were, with a brief moment of worry for them before it was a passing fleeting feeling. Those even with the events of the other night with that horrible frankenstein thing running around last night, he has come to the realization that the kubs along with this sinister master seem to want to play this killing game, so everyone dying last night seems to be rather boring, at least in the eyes of that psychopathic bear.

The police station and the hospital *thankfully* was vacant of anyone, though with all else remove through the process of elimination and logic, that left the diner.

Which Kaze once entering it, found it to be, also empty. "Odd, now where is everyone?" The lone man said, looking around the diner, however a flash of orange did catch the trench coat wearing man's ever watching eye. Looking at the end of the table, the same one Kaze himself occupied was none other than a napping Daichi.

Kaze approaches the young Director as he stares down at him. He really should let him rest, he seems quite tired. However he needed information and for a inquisitor the need to learn outweighs the need to be polite.

"Daichi, wake up." He goes and nudges the ultimates shoulders, stirring into the land of the conscious was the orange loving boy. With a stretch and a yawn. Rubbing what remains of sleep out from his eyes finally turning to face him. Smiling as usually spreading across his features.

"Ah Kaze, funny I was dreaming about you..." and before he could let that just sink in. "You would make a amazing actor in my newest script I been working on "Jion Wicker" it a tail about a man seeking revenge against an American Cartel in Kyoto after they killed his pet goldfish and..."

*Clap*

Snapping his attention to the sound of the clap, caused by none other then the top hat wearing Kaze. "Souma, listen, focus" With a nod and a smile, Kain continued "The Kubs took you last night, where did they take you?"

"Kaze, you know how I hate about telling whether then showing, but since I can't show you and also cause your giving me such a strong glare… have you been working on that?" Diachi smiles as Kaze leans forwards.

"Dai..." The man chuckles and wave sit off.

"Yes, yes I know, I know onto the point. Couldn't tell you, I was blindfolded with Monobabe" He says with such a elegant non panic voice

"You mean by Monobabe, right?" Kaze corrected a bit taking his own seat.

Daichi shaking his head "oh no, she rode on my shoulders hugging my head, I couldn't see anything, I tripped a few times, she when she attached to you holds on like a vice grip." Seeing the unamused Kaze before him he decided to continue. "Oh anyways when they finally let me see, I was in some big house, I think it was some community center of government institution. Painting and statues all over the place, though all replaced with monokuma heads of course."

Kaze rubbed his chin and says "The city hall?" with a shrug as his response. "What did they make you do?"

He takes a sip of his coffee, the steam of it long since gone meaning he was sipping room temperature coffee, many would say the worse kind of coffee though he didn't seem to mind. "Oh they made me clean, though I did manage to slip away for a bit. They didn't spend too much energy in watching me, giving me a task and leaving to do something, it was rather dull I must confess nothing really revealed, though I didn't much look."

"And that is it?" The inquisitor said, with a nod and a smile he continued "I see, where is everyone else anyways?"

"Oh they talked about using the park as a prime local for the election, honestly I think the neighborhood would be a lot more symbolic but what do I know?" he lays his head back down and says "I will catch up later, I just need to rest some more."

Kaze nods deciding that he can interrogate him later when he was more awake, and with that info he left him to his nap, getting up and promptly exiting on his way to the park, to this so called election.

…...

"Puhuhuhu, I do love me a good old fashion, totally not rigged election, voted upon the ignorant masses." A certain black and white bear says on top of the a tree staring down.

"Shut up you, keep quiet or git." Takeshi growls a bit, to which Monokuma gave a thumbs up, then made a zipping motion over his mouth as he leans against the tree silently. The cop, remotely satisfied turns back around to face the crowd, who all had gathered at the park after a decent breakfast, brought to you by a certain Green kub (ya welcome you brats!). Unaware of the events that happened just the other night, they gathered to hold their election. "So is everyone here?"

Which as of this moment most of them have all grouped up around the makeshift platform, the one the kubs used in there "dramatic" entrance the other day, but were so kind enough to allow usage to them for this election process. In the front of the stage being the most excited voter, the red blood of any good civilization being Takara front and center as one would expect her to be. Next to her were Kiaria, who seemed to be humming a melody to herself, and Tsukasa, who was currently looking for someone who wasn't there yet. Shino was also there to bare witness to the election. Kerria, Haruna and Wataru were in the back more or less there with slight disinterest. Kyojin was seen sitting on the rubble of the statue that once stood proudly in the park, not really seeming to mind that he was possibly desecrating this lone remnant of history. Chi and Deku were in the way back, and by the way back we mean like by the entrance as if they were about to leave not really buying this whole election idea.

While Takeshi, Yuki, Kaori, and Satoshi were on the stage. Takeshi seemed to be somewhat anxious, the scowl imprinted on his face and the shifting of his eyes indicating he was thinking about this quite a bit, perhaps the cop believed he would be the best new leader in the crumpled city, or maybe he just wanted to shove his new power down Kaze's throat, why not both? Yuki seemed rather neutral, staring at a small rose that was off near the subway entrance and was scanning it with her eyes as if trying to work out how much pollen the plant would produce within her head. Kaori just stood with her arms crossed, nobody was reading her thoughts nor should they attempt to. And Satoshi, well Satoshi was seemingly already practicing his victory speech on his stack of cards, fanning them out in his hand and talking to them, answering questions about his campaign that he hadn't even been assured yet and giving small bows and overly joy-filled laughs.

Leaving Noboru, Tomomi, Tokaku, Kaoru, Daichi and Kaze as the absent few.

That was true until Kaze himself had finally made it to the park, much to the relief of a certain painter, and the disdain of the cop, and more or less everyone else was neutral to his arrival.

The Inquisitor looks around at everyone who has arrived. They were really going through with this, electing what Kaze would consider the unofficial second Mayor of the ultimate city. Approaching this… well he wasn't sure what to make of it. Sure him not being on the ballot and him pretty much being replaced along with this being a sign that no one really trusted him was really a blow to his self confidence and everything he had trained himself to be for most of his life… but if it kept them from killing each other for the time being than so be it. He's sure that at some point they'd realize how ineffective this would be in rebuilding the Ultimate City and he would have to take charge once more, it was just a matter of waiting for that time now.

Once Kaze took his place in the crowd he noticed that of all the people to come over and take a place by his side it was Kyojin, Shino, and Takara who came to form a small group with him. These three seemed to be the ones whom he has formed the most positive relationships with outside of Tsukasa and Tomomi. The former of the two seemed to be distracted with assisting Yuki in her appearance with Kerria, Kiairia, Kaoru, and Tokaku. It seemed as though those three had picked their favorite candidate though it was mostly Kerria and Kaoru, with the other two following to hang out with their friends, the girls forming a sort of kinship straight away that was lost amongst most of the males. Tomomi on the other hand had positioned herself by the stage with her camera readying herself to take pictures of the event. It was likely to keep for a happy memoir once they were let out of the Ultimate City, a Hope Filled Election in the Midst of Despair, or something like that. Taking pictures must have been her coping mechanism, and Kaze could respect that. With him finding those three in the stage area it appeared that the only people who hadn't arrived yet were Noboru and of course Daichi.

"So, who do you think will win?" Asked Shino in an emotionless whisper staring forward as the four candidates were getting ready to make their addresses to the crowd. Kaze looks over with a small grimace crossing his face but shook his head in response, not feeling like he should answer that question.

Takara aftera moment clapped her hands and said with glee "Oh Wataru of course!" This was said without any hesitation or even a second thought on who was actually running.

"But, I thought your boyfriend wasn't even in the running?" Asked Kyojin with an index finger on his chin

"Boyfriend?" Kaze and the others saw her eyes go almost blank for a moment as she appears to be deep in thought "OH! You mean Wataru? No no no no we're just friends, yeah I know we share a lot of the same interests, not to mention our height, weight, and general muscle mass are about the same, which is actuallly kinda weird if you think about it, but to say we'e boyfriend and girlfriend is a jump I meanwehaven'tevendiscussedanythinglikethatandIcan'thaveaboyfriendwithouthimmeetingmyparentsfirstnottmentionhehasn'tevenseenmyfossilcollectionandanotherthing-"

Shino then suddenly clapped his hands together in front of her face jolting her out of her little rant that was actually making Kyojin's eyes spin in actual confusion of what was going on. "We get it, but yes he is not in the running, pick someone else."

Takara blinks and then was silent for a moment before saying with the slightest hesitation "...Kaze?"

Kaze just looks over and stares at her with an unbelieving look of concern and almost pity "I'm… not in the running."

"REALLY?!" The most genuine voice of concern coming from her mouth "That's a shame."

Kyojin once he finally got his bearings back decides to throw in his two cents. "Oh I think Takeshi should be elected, he's just as strong as Kaze and he's a cop!"

Shino looked over rather unimpressed "Is that all?"

Kyojin looked over and nodded his head quickly "Mmhmm, why not? If we can't vote for Kaze might as well vote for someone else like Kaze. Or we could vote for Kaori, oooooohhhh Kaze with boobies."

Takara gasped seeming like she was only half paying attention to what Kyojin was saying "Kaze has BOOBIES?!" To which half the people in the audience looked over with a raised eyebrow and a look of confusion and/or concern.

Kaze just looks forward avoiding eye contact with all of the people around him before he put his head in his hands and got up from his seated position. "I am going to go watch the election alone now." To which he did indeed get up and walked over to a remote corner of the park, sitting on a bench and watching the election from a distance, being ever the social butterfly although talking politics with those three was like talking carrots with a bunch of bunnies hopped up on caffeine, there was just no progress being made in the conversation.

"Good idea, the conversation was getting rather repetitive and annoying." Kaze jumped in his seat and looked over to find that Shino was right next to him and had appeared again without even a sound or a trace that he moved, as Kyojin and Takara were just obliviously going on with their conversation.

Kaze looks over and then turns back towards the stage with a sigh. "I thought I said that I was going to watch the election alone."

To which Shino shrugged and replied with "Kaze it's me, you act like I'm going to be a distraction." And with that small bit of logic Kaze couldn't think of a good counter so he and Shino began to watch the election in silence.

XXX

"Approximately 68.8 percent of elections are decided the moment people hear who is running in them. What comes after is merely gratuitous and unnecessary filler likely to stroke the egos of those involved. So to answer your question, no I do not believe you riding in on a chariot pulled by a manservant wearing a toga whilst confetti is thrown onto you would increase your chances of victory." Yuki sighed a bit as she paced back and forth running her hand through her hair in annoyance, Satoshi following her around and asking her all these questions about how the numbers were stacking up and how his chances were, and the worst one listening to his entire speech to try to find flaws, every word of the 20 minute long self-indulgent speech now lodged deep within her memory bankes.

"...But what if I show them my Forbidden Deck of the 76th Circle of Ardha?" Satoshi inquired whilst he shuffled the deck in his hands "I am sure once the voters see my deck they will grant me infinite power, and allow me, Satoshi Yugimoto, to guide them into the blinding light of Neo-Alternative Heaven."

Yuki couldn't even begin to fathom why he just said the words he just said, and her mind processed each word like a super computer, comparing them to other resources in her mind and putting together knowledge from the thousands of books she has read as required of her ultimate to form a rebuttal. "First of all I believe you are referring to the Indian deity Ardhanarishvara, an androgynous being in Indian folklore that is a mythical being that is half woman, formed from the deity Shiva and his wife Parvati having a love so deep that they fused together. As however Ardhararishvarda is not a being of hell or even of hatred, and is instead one of love I am unsure how it is in the 76th circle of anything or why it is even forbidden, as love is something very pure in Indian circles. And… Neo-Alternative Heaven? There is no alternative to Heaven, it is just a place where it is believed the spirits of the good are brought to in order to know everlasting peace."

Satoshi looked at her and then down at his cards, and then back up to her with an expression of his eyes crossing as if his mind just broke "... why do you have to ruin my card game? Can't you just give me a straight answer?"

Yuki nods her head "Fine, no it will not help."

"See, was that so hard?" And then after a second "... awwwwee."

"Will you two be quiet I am trying to psyche myself up!" Yelled the very angry cop on the other side of the stage taking a deep breath "Alright you got this Takeshi you got this, time to finally take this city by the horns and become the head honcho around here, show Kaze what real law is." He said to himself but rather loudly, as if he was running in this election more out of spite than concern for the citizens but anyone who knew him never questioned Takeshi's belief in the citizens, he was a good cop… just notorious for holding grudges.

"Yeah that's right we're going to go get him!" Came a cry from the resident Ultimate Thief Deku who had crawled onto Takeshi's back and was giving him a very uncomfortable shoulder rub. "You got this champ."

Takeshi looked up with a furrowed brow and an even more annoyed glint in his eyes "Will you please stop before I throw you off you little twerp?!"

Deku pouted but continued to do what he was doing "Then why did you hire me as your hype man?"

Takeshi grumbles "I didn't, you just came up to me, said we're gonna dethrone Kaze, and then started following me around like an annoying tick.

Deku chuckled a bit to himself as if Takeshi made a joke "Oh yeah that's right, I remember now."

Kaori, who had put herself in the middle of the stage, began to sigh in discontent as she crossed her arms assessing all of this. This entire election idea seemed a bit rushed, she knew it was to make the others feel safe, and as the Ultimate Bodyguard she could respect that and desired it as well, but putting her on the ballot simply because she was a strong protector? She couldn't support it, yet she couldn't drop out because it would give the others a lose of hope, and in this situation a loss of hope could be the same as tossing a couple bodies into the street. She wasn't a leader, she was a shield, a woman who jumped in the way to save others not give them a rousing speech about the quality of life. Yuki, Takeshi, heck even Satoshi would likely be better qualified for that, why was she even here? And more importantly, as she noticed Yuki get swarmed by the females, Takeshi getting pestered by Deku, and even Kaoru beginning to talk to Satoshi only to lure him into speaking simply so she could gas the inside of his mouth and then laugh at him, she had to wonder… where was her little sidekick? It was hard to think that Noboru would be late, and the answer to that question came screaming at her like a giant glittery powder puff to the face. In fact…

"MAKEUP!" And then the powderpuff splattered against her face as Noboru pressed it against her face, blinding the Ultimate Bodyguard and making her let out a cry that almost sounded… feminine, though it was immediately followed by grunts of disapproval as she tried to instinctively shake him off but the tightrope walker was holding on like a trained rodeo rider and began to apply eyeliner and even lipstick.. they would be having a very strongly worded discussion about this later.

Noboru finally jumped off the trashing Kaori as she then stabilized herself and then looked over to Noboru with a hardened glare "What have you done?" To which she was greeted with a mirror being raised to eye level and she let out a loud gasp, her hand going to her mouth as she backed up in shock. Her stern usually hardened looking face with stress lines coating it was gone and replaced with a dolled up amount of blush and light blue eyeliner that accented her cheekbones and other hidden features. Her lips were coated in cherry red lipstick to make them pop, to the point where if you didn't see it happen you would not know that the woman in front of you was Kaori Moriya. "Sooooo… what do you think?"

...

…

Noboru began to get worried from her silence. "Kaori?"

"I look like a clown… an easy clown." Kaori said as her fists shook a bit in anger and embarrassment, her blush hidden beneath the actual blush on her face "Noboru… I don't want this, this isn't me, I feel ridiculous!"

"Oh… well then should I cancel the second phase?" Noboru asked in a very quiet, polite way as he backed up a bit out of disappointment and… a little bit of fear.

"Wait… what's phase 2?" And the second those words left her lips-

"Please don't break my spine!" Escaped the lips of a worried Kaoru as she leaped from the side of a surprised Satoshi and brought out her spray bottle, encasing Kaori in a smog of pink fumes as her limbs thrashed on the inside of it.

"AAAARRRGGGHH! Get this stench away from me!" Demanded Kaori as her head popped out of the cloud only for Kaoru to rudely grab her hair and pull her back into it

"No you can't leave yet! It needs to soak for fifteen seconds!" The fight between the small perfumer and the dominant bodyguard was not going the way one would think as Kaori was practically blinded ans charging like a bull and Kaoru was holding onto her like a determined fla not willing to leave a cat's nest of fur as Noboru jumped in to help keep her steady

"Just calm down Kaori! It's to make you look more feminine!" Came the voice of Noboru from the smoke cloud

"Let me go I'm leaving!" Growled out an annoyed Kaori

"No if you leave I don't get my payment of Jolly Ranchers! And Noboru took the only box!" Called out a desperate Kaoru

"Well played ." Said an impressed Deku from the sidelines

"OW!" Why am I even in here?!" Screeched Satoshi who apparently had found himself in the mass of flailing limbs inside the pink cloud of toxic fumes.

"SHE BIT ME!" Screamed Noboru in pain and disbelief.

"Sorry that was me! You looked tasty!" Admits Kaoru

"Excuse me?!"

During all this chaos something came flying out of the smoke cloud into Kaze's lap on the park bench, almost sounding like it let out a "how divine!" on it's way down. He felt it hit his pelvic area (in a thankfully not painful way) and he looked down with a curious raise of his eyebrow and saw that flying of the stage was a small bobblehead of a young woman wearing what appeared to be a yellow robe that covered her tanned skin body, but underneath the robe that wasn't covering much anyway was a gray and white colored bikini top and a white swimming skirt. In one hand was a brush, and in the other hand was a small canvas with a picture of what appeared to be some sort of handsome god. Kaze for some reason felt like this woman had an aura about her, like in another life maybe she was the leader of a group in a very dangerous situation, and things didn't turn out so well for her or the others. But that wasn't this life, in this life she was just a simple bobblehead, and into his pocket she went with an almost ghostly whisper of "Nyah ha hah ha!"

Soon after, the cloud dissipated and emerging from it was an angry, like red-faced angry Kaori with her fists clenched, now smelling like Kaoru's "Winners Aren't Losers" branded perfume for people with political aspirations and almost looking like a girl who cared about her appearance. She looked and smelled… pretty, and it was very much making her feel embarrassed on this stage in a race she didn't even sign up for. "Noboru….. I am SO-"

Before she could let loose though, the cry of Orochi cut through the air "So uh, are we going to be starting soon?" And it was at that moment everyone turned to face the stage, all the people on it almost freezing in place, Satoshi with Kaoru's knee firmly planted on his chest as a powder puff was shoved into his face and his cards embedded in her hair, Yuki backing up watching it all from the corner, Takeshi mid whistle-blow trying to calm them down, Tomomi taking a picture, Kerria, Kiaria, Tsukasa, and Tokaku exiting the stage trying to get away unscathed… and Kaori and Noboru in the middle of it all staring blankly. It was at that moment they all seemed to realize exactly at the same time that they have been visible to the public this entire time, no curtain to hide everything or nothing, and the only sound was the muffled squeals of laughter coming from Monokuma behind his zipper as he fell out of his tree perch and was now rolling around on the grass in hysteria.

Kaoru and Tomomi quickly exited stage left, following the way Deku left the second all the chaos broke free through a small hole in the back of the stage that likely Monokuma had put in since he was too short to climb up there himself. it was now just the four candidates and Noboru standing up there, the latter of the five moving to the front and clearing his throat trying to ease the tension "... Politics, am I right?" And as pitiful as that joke was, it got Haruna to laugh, and is breaking the silence everyone began to laugh with her, as the election hadn't even started yet, and everyone was already laughing. In a way it was fitting, as some would say this was all just a pitiful acft from inexperienced youths to try to put on a brave front and avoid blame in the face of despair, but on the other hand it was kind of a mockery of the type of environment they wished to convey with this election. It was neither hope nor despair, just silliness.

And Kaori was not happy.

XXX

Five minutes passed, and the candidates had now all officially lined up and regained their composure. There was no more time for stalling, the clock had struck noon, and it was time for the candidates to state their cases. Tomomi took center stage, agreeing to be the moderator and trying to restore some seriousness to the disaster that was the opening act to this election.

"Now then, let us begin the speeches for each candidate. First up, the Ultimate Memorizer, Yuki Hashimoto!" This earned a good reaction from the crowd, everybody knowing Yuki and although not many people had something nice to say about her, nobody had anything bad to say either, she had remained completely neutral to most of the people around her. However there were a few people who didn't clap, namely Deku and Orochi who didn't seem to care… and Kaze. Their eyes met, and Yuki's eyes didn't shift at all but for a moment she felt a pang of… was it disappointment? Regret? Even she wasn't fully sure herself but she shook her head and got onto her speech, which at the end of the day wasn't really much of a speech, more of an open declaration of neutrality.

"To everyone here, I would like to say thank you for showing up. I organized this election in order to keep the peace and give us a leader we can all unite behind, and if you decide that to be me, I will do my best. Do what you think is right, and decide who you believe will keep balance and hope within us all and what remains of this city. Thank you for your time." And with that she stepped back and then to the corner of the stage, and once the audience realized she was done talking with her very short speech it erupted in claps, mostly support from the females as again a kinship was formed there with no girls seeming to really break free and go off on their own, al sticking together which is something the males seemed to lack.

"Thank you Yuki that was wonderful." Said Tomomi in pure support with a smile, to which Yuki nodded in approval as she passed her, the neutral tone in her face not cracking a smile but feeling something more than just satisfaction on the inside, maybe pride, she wasn't sure. "Up next, we have our resident beat cop, the Ultimate Police Officer, Takeshi Kagohara!" And this one got more of a rise out of the males in the crowd with some female attention, even getting a singular clap from Shino and Kaze, though Takeshi would just read that as sarcasm on part of the Inquisitor. Takeshi took center stage and was handed a microphone from Tomomi, to which he cleared his throat loudly and raised his fist in the air.

"ULTIMATES!" He screamed the first word of his speech nearly deafening poor Kiaria in the front and almost knocking her over, to which Takeshi took a deep breath "Sorry, carried away. Anyway, ultimates! Today, is a day of choice. It's a day of deciding how we want to live the rest of our days in this city, however many or few they will be. I just want to say, that leadership will not come from those who came before us, because those who came before us clearly couldn't handle the responsibility placed on their shoulders!" He said in a loud tone and in the moment purposely looked directly over at Kaze, whose expression turned into a harsh glare at the officer, who took it in stride and began to walk around the front of the stage. "It is time for us to stop worrying about this damn city! It is time for us to stop worrying about what we can't save! It is time for us to actually make progress, and be Ultimate again! Ultimates, there is no more Board of Talent, there is no more Ultimate City… there is no more Inquisitor. There is only us…. and me! I promise you, under my leadership and direction, we can break free of Monokuma's captivity, and we can beat him back! We are no longer tied down by those above us. THERE IS NOBODY ABOVE US ANYMORE! WE ARE UNITED! WE ARE ULTIMATES!" He then dropped the microphone and turned away from the stage, feeling like a badass in his own mind and the cheers of the audience complimented that thought, no some cries from the ladies accompanying the guys as they all seemed to cheer Takeshi off the stage, much to Kaze's annoyance as he was one of the only people not clapping for him.

"... He has a good chance you know?" Stated Shino as his eyes remained on the stage where Takeshi just stood.

Kaze sighed and slammed his fist down on the bench right next to him "... Yeah, I know."

Tomomi picked back up the microphone and smiled as she addressed the crowd. "Wow, what a performance from Takeshi right? Well, up next we have a bit of an… x factor. Please welcome to the stage Satoshi Yugimoto, the Ultimate Card Collector!" Satoshi entered to a much more mixed reaction than the others, not getting as many cheers united from one side of the spectrum, instead just getting a couple claps from both genders as like she stated, he was a bit more of a wild card (ha card puns). Satoshi walked up to Tomomi with his arms extended as if he was making a grand entrance, and Kaze felt like in the back of his mind he was forgetting something, something he was told to do. He scratched his head as he thought about it, and then realized what it probably was. "I should go get the Monokuma head and show it to the others." He got up from the bench and looked over to Shino "I'll be back." He stated and began to walk back to his house as Shino just continued to sit there and watch the speeches.

Kaze walked back through the streets, and Satoshi gave his speech with a lot of vigor and gumption but yet Kaze didn't hear it nor did he need to, this was a charade, a showcase of egos. Takeshi just trying to say he was better than him, and Yuki gathering all these candidates to do what? Spite him? That must be it. She must have lost faith in him too, why not even include him and give him a fair chance to return to his former glory. It… just hurt honestly. He walked past someone and as he turned his head he recognized it to be Daichi, and he had something in his mouth, exhaling a bit of smog.

"... You smoke?" Kaze asked with an almost disgusted snarl to it, smoking almost being like a sin in Kaze's eyes as he just glared at the Ultimate Director, to which he in turn just laughed.

"Oh only for the moment Kaze, you see unlike others I have the inner will to not develop a crippling addiction to these cancer sticks. I am simply doing this for now so that I can get into the mind of the protagonist of my film in the making, Jace Adventure: Goth Detective. It's about a humorless goth cop getting paired with a wacky, quip cracking detective and the two are polar opposites. It's quite the gripping script I tell you."

Kaze was almost intrigued at the logic there, Daichi just being able to turn off an addiction? That seemed beyond just being Ultimate, that must take an almost inhuman amount of will and determination. "You must really get into your movies."

Daichi let a wide grin cross onto his face "Oh I most certainly do. You see Kaze, the story is all about the lead up, the plot… the protagonist. If you can't get invested in him and his problems, you have no story, you have no passion. You can't just have another piece of bread that the audience can just imprint upon like a smear of peanut butter. You need a dynamic man or woman, someone who can take charge, believe in himself when nobody else will… and be the hero, even if they don't deserve you." Kaze felt his eyes linger on him for a moment before he turned away and resumed his walk back to his abode.

"Nice talking with you Daichi." Kaze said as he picked up his pace a bit walking up the main street into the residential area.

Once Kaze was out of eyesight, Daichi took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it onto the ground below. "You too Kaze." As he walked to the park, his body smashed against the small little white stick, crumpling it and taking away the flame. "Enlightening as always."

XXX

Back on the stage, Satoshi bowed as he finished his speech to a couple claps, and a tomoato thrown from Kaoru's hand that seemed to just materialize near her to give her another opportunity to shit on Satoshi, who promptly gasped and let the cards fly out of his hands, him running off to catch them before the wind took away his most prized possessions.

Tomomi took the microphone from him before he left and raised her eyebrow a bit at his retreating form, trying hard not to snicker. "Thank you Satoshi, that was very…. helpful I'm sure. Last but certainly not least, we have the one, the only, the Ultimate Bodyguard, Kaori Moriya!" This earned a more neutral reaction, more so than Satoshi's but not as impressive as Takeshi or Yuki, both sides not entirely sure how to feel on the bodyguard. She came onto the stage, still angry from the antics of her "helper", smelling and dressed like a circus in her eyes despite actually looking rather elegant in her own way. She was never one to enjoy girly things, and her feminine side just got in the way of her work so it was repressed, she didn't like it coming out, it was weakness to her. She stood there in the middle of the stage, stewing in her own anger as she then closed her eyes, and counted to ten.

"Everyone, I'm not going to stand here and lie to you… I don't want to be up here. I don't deserve to be up here. I am not a leader, I am not a politician, I am a protector. In my blood, in my heart, in every fiber of my spirit, I am a protector. To those close to me, I view them as the only important thing in my life. I view them as my best friend, my lover, my family, so that if I fail, I feel it in my soul, I will never be the same. Every job is more than just a job to me, it is a way of life. The woman you see before you, this dolled up nice smelling woman, is a lie, and I can lie to you and say that I know things will get better because I don't know that. Frankly, I don't think you should vote for me, Takeshi will give you hope, Satoshi will give you joy, Yuki will give you the truth… I can only offer the solace that if anyone will die in this god forsaken city… it will be me. Because I will not let any one of you die, elected or not. Because at this moment, you are my lovers… my friends… my family… thank you." And she got off the stage, quickly leaving and letting out a deep exhale not even waiting for the audience reaction just wanting to go to the nearest bathroom and wash her face off. She felt embarrassed, humiliated… and yet a twinge of pride in herself. As she fled to the bathroom quickly, kind of shutting herself off with Noboru quickly following behind her.

… she didn't even let herself hear the claps and cheers from not just everyone in the audience, but even the other candidates themselves.

As the mayoral election is entering its climax, the door to Kaze's house opened with Kaze himself exiting his house and in hand was the decapitated head of that mono beast that he slew last night. The thing was heavy as if the weight of sin itself was laid bear for him to carry. It was oddly heavy though it was as big as his chest was wide, as he took a couple steps out closing the door as he turns. It was odd bearing the weight of this thing, this mechanical monsteriousty and a symbol of their hedonistic despair sentiment. He began to take a couple step forward his leather boots clicking upon the pavement. Unbeknownst to most, Kaze took care not to step on a crack, as he kept moving over the crack filled road having some difficulties holding the head but he had to show this to everyone.

While they were off pretending politics, and doing that play election, he was actually doing true busy work. Though once they see this maybe they can see how much he has been working to protect everyone.

"Oooh, gimme that" a squeaky voice calls out, Kaze caught off guard And looks over, and standing between two of the houses, was the smallest of the kubs, standing there like a demented doll was Monobabe, her smirk never leaving her mask face as she stared up at Kaze, or more specifically the head of the mono beast in his hand.

"What… no leave me alone," Kaze would have said, if it wasn't that in the span of a couple seconds Monobabe closed the distance between the two of them, quicker then he could react, she leaped up clinging to the head of the monokuma and kicked off the inquisitor much to his shock sending him onto his behind, and the kub landing perfectly with the heavy head of the Monokuma in her grasp, with great struggle and a giggle she turned and began to take off.

With a blink and then a gasp "No, I need that!" Was out of his mouth however his body moved quicker already moving towards the purple clad monokub. How could she carry that heavy piece of metal? He had no idea.

Was she trying to destroy the only evidence he had?

She looks over as Kaze closes the distance since he being a fully developed man, as he goes and lunges at the little girl, as she looks over and then stops with a turn on her heels and leaps up over the lunging inquisitor landing behind him.

Feeling the sharp pain of the pavement scraping his body, Monobabe turns and taunts him with a giggle and a raspberry "Bwe bwe, inquisitah," as she then goes and kept her game going rushing by.

He growls punching the ground and he turns and runs after her, as he goes after her, she was running across the cul-de-sac. Giggling as she looks back and she jumps up and lands on the manhole cover in the center of the street, giggling, as she did and Kaze is about to grab her until the manhole lift up, skidding to a halt starring as Monogruff is there smirking before he arches and throws the cover along with his little sister flying. Squealing in joy as she waving as she spun around.

Gruff says crossing his arms "haha be a good Dog and go fetch."

Kaze sneers at the big guy looking over seeing the manhole cover going flying in the direction of the hospital as he looks over, and he glares at Gruff, who waves to him a bit "Well, go… I be seeing you real soon" He let out a massive laugh before he goes and he vanishes back down the manhole.

Kaze turns and began to search for that kub wondering where she went off to, and why she was after that head. To get rid of it, or to play some sort of sick twisted game with him. To annoy him (yeah probably this one). As he soon found the hospital he walks over looking, see the manhole cover now embedded into the side of the hospital on the second story and yet no Monobabe. His eyes look around as he does he found his eyes flicking down and to the side, standing there was Monoking, he was just in the doorframe of the hospital, his emotionless red eye staring at Kaze, as he had that coffin to his side.

Kaze would rather not deal with Monoking, however he did need to figure out what happened with his youngest sister.

"Monoking" The Ultimate Inquisitor said eyeing him.

"Sir Kain" The Ultimate despair responded as he seem to be waiting for him.

"Where is the head, or more or less Monobabe?" He was hoping this wouldn't be too annoying however it be a kub he couldn't tell.

"Yes" Was the only thing that the apparent king said.

"And where would she be now?" He took a step forward. As he did, he did note that King did turn more towards him.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere instead of worrying about a harmless toddler?" He said it in such a low tone, it sent a weird chill down Kaze spine.

"What do you mean?" The teen asked the most likely the mid life adult.

"You did leave practically all those you swore to protect alone, I hope nothing bad is happening to them." Kaze eyes seem to widen more as the king slowly began to walk back, dragging the coffin with him, screeching against the tiled floor, his eyes never leaving Kaze until his entire red and white form was engulf by the darkness of the medical center.

Kaze then turned and forgot about the head and his pursuit of Monobabe and began in a full sprint towards the park. How could he have been such a fool to have just left them all undefended like that?! As he ran, though he never looked back he swore he could feel the eyes of Monoking burning into his back as he ran.

Going running by as he rushed, until he ran right into the form that is Kaori, Kaze slammed into the bodyguard as the bodyguard barely seemed to move, it knocked the air out of Kaze, however before the investigator could fall and hit into the ground, he was caught in a pair of strong arms. He turned just to see himself get hoisted up by Kaori as her eyes stared into his

"Excuse you Inquisitor, what is with the rush?" She asked, her face and hair was wet with only the slightest evidence that at one point it was all dolled up.

"No time, is everything alright at the stadium?!" Panic seeping into his voice as he eyed her.

He say her brows and mouth frown deeper then they were once. "I don't know I left like 5 minutes ago after the speeches were done… why?" She said full of concern, as Kaze shook his head.

"No time!" was all he could say before rushing by her and quickly followed by her as he rushed to the park.

Standing there were the other 18 of the ultimates, even being joined by Daichi as he was there up uon the stage with Tomomi giving her a piece of paper as she puts it in a box which Waturu was kindly holding for them.

"Oh Kaori and Kaze, is about time, you're the last two who haven't voted!" She has such a nice smile as it seemed that the election was coming to an end, as the other 3 candidates were off the stage to the side talking.

"Wow leave it to the holy man to not watch half of the speeches, what did you have to do? Pray to God to vote for you, or maybe you and the maybe next mayor got busy" Chi smirks widely as he giggles a bit in such a cute manner, it was sickening.

Haruna stares and says "I won't even give you the satisfaction of me responding to you."

"But I will!" The perfumer poking him with a quick bap to the nose "Your gross!"

Chi stumbles and he holds his nose "..." a sniffle, teary eyed "Mommy!" he cries and for some unexpected reason ran into the waist of Kerria, much to the puppeteers absolute disgust.

Other than those things, it seemed like everything was ok. "Everything is fine?" The holy man asked taking a step towards everyone.

"Umm yeah everything is fine" Wat said as he looks over "Just voting is all… why would there be something wrong?" The archaeologist asked, and just as he does they all heard the familiar sound.

RISE AND SHINE URSINE!

Then a massive blue hand shot up from the smoke, as the large blue brute of a kub appeared and dashed out of the the entrance, gripping the box from Waturu's hand "Out of the way twerp!" The familiar sound of their "Warden" came out as he shoved Waturu off the stage, sending the half deaf kid falling off the stage and into the friendly arms of Kiaria and Takara as he looks back. Diachi and Tomomi, took a step back as the other kubs appeared laughing, Boss and Maxime were to the left of Gruff, and Lisa and Babe appearing to his right. Daichi and Tomomi fell down onto their backs laying at the feet of the Monokubs. Gruff stares "Missed us! I know we haven't been very active today but hey, there a reason for that, we been doing some digging and..." he takes a moment to almost sarcastically say as he eyed everyone "Am I interrupting something, you all seem super busy."

Tomomi stood up as Kaze was already making his way to the stage with the bodyguard and the cop doing the same "we were just doing the..."

Maxinme was the one who spoke up, having his arms wrapping around the trunk like arm of Monogruff "Dearest and well toned brother, remember they were doing that little make believe election, don't you recall?"

Lisa nods and says hugging his other hand "You know to elect the "leader" of this sector?"

Monogruff eyes the ultimate journalist in front of him, "Ghahahaha, fools you already have a leader, remember I am the leader of this area, I am your warden!" He then raised both his hands as his siblings released their grip. "No need for this." And then putting his massive paws on either side of the small wooden box that they were using to keep the votes on and then with his massive hands, slammed his palms together, with the box between them.

It was a odd feeling, a soul crushing feeling, our hearts like that box smashed between the two plate size hands. There was a cold silence passing through the crowd as they could only stare as the 5 Kubs began to laugh loudly (and Monoking was there too).

Monoboss not helping, if anything adding to the misery "Aww, ya brats tryin to play politics, it be funny, but hey ya ain't doing it right, ya need more dirty muddy money, and need to send way more inappropriate pictures to girls who may or may not be old enough to drive"

Monobabe says "I didwn't undah stand any of that, YEEHAW to youful ignowance" waving her hands in the air.

Kaze stood before the ultimates as he glared up at them with a strong sneer. He had enough of them, sure he didn't like the voting election however it was still something the citizens got behind it and they ruined it. He opened his mouth but it was a different voice that echoed out.

Tokaku of all people snaps out loudly screaming "What do you want from us, you sick freaks?!" The kubs all turned to the hypnotist as they seem to give her this unsettling stare, however either by a stronger will then Kaze gave her credit for, or just a sheer panic of the moment. "Why must you involve yourself in everything we are doing?! Just leave us alone or tell us what you want from us!" She was panting hard as she had her fist clenched together.

They only starred in this almost emotionless blankness.

Tomomi who was the closest got up and she sucked in a air of bravery and says. "Yes tell us, why did you come here. Why won't you leave us alone."

"We want you guys to kill each other."

That voice came not from the ,onokubs but above them, standing in the tree has he's been perched up since the beginning of this event was.

Monokuma

He leaps down in front of her, though bearly being 2 feet tall, it made Tomomi step back, at just the brutal honesty that the bear spoke. "We have given you what.. 3 days or something and yet you're all still alive. That' boring."

"Boring, boring! Us still living somehow you find boring?!" Tokaku said stepping forward.

"Yeah we are not going to kill each other for no reason, just cause you said so!" Takeshi stepped forward bravely.

The ears upon monokuma head perked up as Takeshi spoke up "For… no reason?" Putting his paw on his chin.

For some reason that simple question and simple gesture even halted the cop in his tracks as the ultimates looked at one another, Kaze felt this sick sinking feeling as the Kuma stood there with his kubs thinking, it was one of the most unsettling scenes he as ever as far as his memory is concern has encountered. The Kubs all who were still in that blank gaze, their mask hiding who they were looking at however they have yet to move an inch from that spot ever since Tokaku snapped at them, as if they were waiting for something. And of course Monokuma their king, heck more of less their God stood silent after saying such a simple phrase, it made everyone take a pause even the bravery of the hypnotist and the police officer didn't move. Even the inquisitor the self proclaimed hunter of everything despair. They all felt the same feeling at the same time.

Despair

"You are right, you guys have no reason to kill each other. I mean why would yo?. You all wanted this, to be locked away from the evil, cruel, unfair world and be nice and safe in your little bubble and echo chamber. So why would you ever want to leave this place where you're safe and you were looked after? Where the city only thought for your best interest in mind? The Ultimate City, a place where ultimates can do anything and be free and safe..." Monokuma's voice was cracking growing into this sinister tone as he eyed at everyone.

He felt like had to do something, so with a firm nod Kaze spoke "That is right we..."

The Ultimate Despairing mayor was not at all finished. "Then since you all have no reason to kill one another and you think this city is here for your protection, I will give you all your first MOTIVE"

They all stood like sheep, watching as the slaughter moved through the cattle. There was a level of seriousness to his voice, not like last time.

"And here it is..." Monokuma started as the kubs began to take a step back.

Kaze turns and said "You think we are going to be scared by your tactics?"

"Your first motives to send you all into a state of forever being distraught." The bear continued eyeing everyone.

"We are not afraid of you" Hope said loudly.

"You think you're safe in this place, so here it is." Despair answered back.

"They are under my watch, under the Ultimate City's protection and I will not..." Kaze then was silenced by a loud haunting voice.

"YOUR FIRST MOTIVE IS….."

….

…..

…..

…..

…..

…

THE ULTIMATE CITY HAS LIED TO YOU ALL!"

The silence, the silence was the worst part as everyone heard those words uttered, those deafening and heart breaking words as they stunned everyone. Most of all was none other then Kaze Kain who couldn't say anything at this.

"Excuse… you" Was the only words able to escape Kaze's lips as he just stared in awe at the monsters. "You… liars!" he hisses, eyes bearing that of that familiar rage returning, well it would have returned if not for a simple, tiny little explosion behind the Kubs, cutting him off from another episode he would have surely regretted.

The explosion behind them erupted out papers, files, boxes and so much more, a massive pile of more of less junk appeared. Boxes and boxes full of papers and other things were there. All with written on them was a simple.

"Property of the Board of Talent"

Status: Redacted/Censored

The papers, letter, files, and so much more were beginning to gently and softly began to fall down upon the citizens as they began to pick up the papers and other things in confusion.

"What is all of this junk?" Chi hissed as he looks around before, his eyes focused on the box "... hey these are more games I made..." Picking up the box looking at the side the box.

Takeshi grabbed file out of the air snarling as he looks down, and he frowns deeply "Wait, this is one of my arrest orders I sent back to the DA of Japan." He looks at them "How did the kubs get their paws on this!?"

Haruna was sitting down along with Tsukasa side by side picking up portraits and USB drives. "These are my paintings of the city!"

Haruna adds "These I think are my reviews of the restaurant and the city."

Yuki walked forward as she stares at some of the boxes "Movies from Daichi, produced in the city, and Waturu exhibits he found to the Japanese History Museum." Her voice attracting Daichi, who in turned grabbed Waturu since he didn't hear her voice. They all began to look around at all this falling upon them, they were so confused.

Kaze looks over sneering a bit not sure what is happening "What is going on, what is all this? How did you get your hands on all their stuff?!"

Tomomi looks down at all this stuff and she looks over and picks up a newspaper, she sees all the blacked out splotches in it. Papers and notes again with all the blacked out ink on every line. "These are my… notes… and my stories about the city."

Kaze looks down frowning as he looks over "This it, you took all these ultimates' things and give it back to them?"

Monogruff laughs taking a step forward and he pokes him square in the chest and says "Can't you read you brat? This isn't from us, none of this junk is from us." This did make Kaze look back down at the box reading it agonizingly slowly as his eyes skimmed the words "Property of the Board of Talent." No that had to be a lie. I mean they could have easily drew on the box, but… their was so much dust and the marker seem dull and worn down. This had to be a lie, this couldn't be happening. "No this isn't true, you're clearly lying."

He looks over hearing another voice this belonging Kaoru looking over "Hey I wrote this letter to my mom… but she responded to me. That doesn't make sense."

Monokuma continues laughing "Nope, they didn't, In fact none of this junk ever left the walls of the city." He smirked at everyone looking around, crossing his paws behind his back as he began to pace around with a confident smirk plastered on his stuffed face. "Funny little story, the Board of Talent has all taken your items you all were sending to the outside, locking them up and they made up responses to give back to you. No one from the outside even knows what is happening ever since you all walked into the city. You're not citizens…. You're prisoners to them, these saints of the board...are actually your captors!"

The looks of panic began to stretch out as Tomomi looking down at the papers "I don't remember writing these though."

Monokuma leans down and says "Oh now that one is on me, I wiped many of your memories but you know your own handwriting, right?" The ultimate journalist nodded her head sadly.

Monokuma nods to her as he pats her head "You have all been betrayed."

Kaze could only spin around seeing all the hopelessness of all the citizens as they slowly begin to realize, they weren't lying, though Kaze knew better, they had to be lying to him. The Board of Talent would never do this! "No i refuse to believe you."

Monokuma chuckles a bit hearing that outburst "Well of course you wouldn't, we don't have anything to return to you. After all, you haven't talked to your father in years."

Kaze's head snapped around to meet Monokuma directly in the eyes "What was that, you stuffed abomination?!"

Yuki looked over and she silent says cutting off the interaction before it could be violent "The redacted, the boxes, these are all moves made by the Ultimate Censor," she says in her monotone voice.

"Ultimate Censor?" Satoshi looks over confused.

"She was a member of the Board of Talent" she says as those almost damning words left her lips, the other citizens looking over in shock, their last chance of hope slowly leaving their eyes and being replaced by horror. Kaze even he stood silent, he remembered her… no… they wouldn't.

Takeshi quickly turns and says "Did you know about this!" He pointed to none other then the Inquisitor of hope.

"Of course not, you fool" Kain retorted back.

"Guys knock it off…." Tomomi says getting between the two alpha males. Just before they all thought it couldn't get any worse, that tensions that have been building since day one couldn't flare up anymore, the mayor spoke one last time.

"Oh by the way..." he looks at everyone making sure to meet everyone in the eyes saying. "There is a traitor among you." He says laughing, oh they all laughed all 6 of the Kubs and their father laugh.

SO LONG, BEAR WELL!

And the Kubs vanish along with Monokuma leaving after this sour note. They all stood there as the bears were now gone. This not a thing one of them as ever felt this sort of despair before, it was a despair that went in deep breaking any form of hope you might have hanged onto since this all began. This despair was soul crushing, it was so thick in the air they felt like they could all suffocate with how thick it was. The silence was so deafening to the ears of all the citizens. This walled off city, and these towering building, that once made them feel safe, sure in recent days the city was obviously less safe, however that was cause of the kubs and monokuma never have they genuinely felt scared of the ultimate city.

Until now.

"But, we came here cause this place was suppose to keep us safe, but we are actually just its prisoners." Noboru said looking around in shock.

"But I was talking to my friend… and father, they, they might be in danger and I never knew!" Tokaku said looking at everyone.

Takara looking around she genuinely seemed confused "Guys what's going on? What do you guys means that we been betrayed?"

Satoshi for once in a almost serious voice looking at all this and says. "We've… been lied too." He looks over as the card collector seeing the tearful fearfilled eyes of the Perfumer, he goes and hugs her, which this time she didn't push away she just let the tears fall more.

Kaze looking around as he coughs loudly and says "Guys looks this all seems bad but I can assure you the Board of Talent would never..."

"What are you talking about?! Don't you see all of this around us you piece of shit?! Did you know about this Kaze, that the city has been lying to us pulling wool over our EYES?!" The cop scolded glaring at him sneering, Kaze was even taken back. He has never seen Takeshi this angry before. "If you helped the Board… then you could be helping the Kubs!"

Yuki looked over and she says her voice raising a bit "Takeshi enough." However Kain has had enough of him.

"Oh you would have liked that wouldn't you Takeshi for that to be the case." He sneers, taking a step forward towards him, moving more or less shoving by Yuki and Tomomi closing the distance. "You never liked me you just wanted me to just vanish" he somehow watches Takeshi's face get angrier and angrier.

"Kaze you little shit… get out of my face or else..." He sneered clenching his fist and teeth.

"Or what, you going to hit me with a rock again?! Knock me… or maybe you weren't trying to knock me out that day… maybe you tried to take me out of commision to Kill..." Kaze never finished that sentence, the fist was too quick even for the man of God. The pain and dazef vision came as Kaze was moved back lifting off the ground falling and tripping over before he felt a cool wetness overcome him, as he fell straight into the pond. He would have heard the shrieks and cries of fears, well he would have until he felt two strong pairs of hands grabbing his neck…

And shoving him back under water.


	8. Drowning with suspense

**Hello everyone, I know it has been a bit. Ok for serious those lets talk about these delays. I know it takes a couple months to get a chapter out and I know that can be frustrating however me and my co-author have a goal we will be now writing 4 chapters in advance since I have a long break from work coming soon. So we will try to write ahead of time cause we have a new goal, for 2019 we will have a chapter up every Saturday or at the max every other Saturday. So everyone expect the next chapter on January 5 should be when the next chapter is out. Thank you all for your patience. Reviews are appreciated and it be nice to get what everyone is thinking and suggestions.**

[Monokuma Theatre]

NO NOT THIS TIME

The Monokuma Theatre card, grabbed and smashed and tossed away. "No this times its..."

[Monogruff Theatre]

"Ok ya little bastards, I bet you've all been wondering how did this tall, masculine son of a fish come to be? Well it was a dark and stormy night where I was born, born to a golem and fully grown silverback gorilla, birthed by a wacky inflatable arm waving tube man. I remember my first moments of life was looking up at the sun and seeing it since my birth happened at the breaking of dawn. The sky was orange as I came into this world. I was already the size of a really big beach ball. The Arm man rose me up to the sun which was at its peak since I was born on a sunny day at high noon. Then began my training by surviving in the mist since it was misty the day I was born and had to crawl my way home, which I didn't, then I died… but then I didn't. Part 1 of origin story done, part 2 coming up, still waiting for the green light from FOX to get part 2 in production."

[End of the Monogruff Theatre]

The world flashed of the light of the sun and the need of life air. Before being thrusted back down into the cold, wet and dark depths of the lake, odd how even something has shallow as knee deep water is all it took to drown someone.

Not that he was drowned or anything, just drowning. There a difference, a big difference.

As he was dragged under the water yet again he felt the cool wetness surround him, the air vanishing surrounded by the suffocating darkness of the water…

Nothing but darkness...

Kaze awoke with a startle feeling the car beginning to come to a halt, as eh turns and he sees the what looks to be a decent size complex, a big concrete structure, with the Future Foundation logo plastered on the front of it. We were deep in Future Foundation territory away from any of the lurking despairs. Kaze stares at this building, as a voice caught his ears.

"Ah yes it would seem we have finally arrived" Kaze turn to the voice seeing it as that old man who came to him offering him that job. Nakasone Sanetomo looks over at Kaze. "Welcome to the Head Quarters of the Board of Talent."

Imaeda who was next to his friend eyes Kaze and then the older man. "This board, are the ones running this little project right? Why is this the first time we are hearing about them, we been in the foundation for a few years now."

Sanetomo smiles a bit in a kind way and he says "oh do not mind the secrecy we are one of the future foundations little projects, it has been a idea forming long even before the tragedy happened, however luckily it was nearly completed when it all went down. So now this once status of what it means to be a ultimate, is now going to become the symbol of sancuationary in the coming storms."

"Wait this was being built before the Tragedy?" The luckster said curiously.

He nods as he goes beginning to get out of the car followed by the teenagers "yes it was help funded by many of Hope's Peak Alumni, in fact that was what we were called before the Foundation took over the project, now we are the Board of Talent."

Kaze nods a bit as they begin to head into the complex as Imaeda looks over and around as he sees the very utilitarian like design, a metalic grey steel, with very little of any luxuries, with only the occasion rug, and there were some paintings, those they seem to be of the headmasters, and even the Hope's Peak founder, Izuru Kamakura, he even noted some Alumni Hope's peak Graduates. The clicking of the shoes on the matelica floor was the only comfort he had as they walked.

"Dreadful place, but the others seem to enjoy it." Sanetomo spoke out looking over at the other two who were accompanying him.

"I like it" Kain spoke out as he looks around at it, nothing to distract him.

"Of course you would Kaze, you wouldn't know taste if it bit you on the butt." Imaeda poked his friend a bit much to the inquisitors annoyance as he rolls his eyes at the lucky student, as he continued to walk with him.

"So why were we called here anyways?" Kaze asked looking over to the older man as he says.

"For an inquisitor you sure are impatient, what's another 10 minute walk to your destiny."

His… destiny?

The man looks over a bit as he continues to walk and with his hands behind his back states "you two have quite the record, newly 2 dozens cases taken and solved, and nearly a dozen despair double agents snuffed out of the foundation, you have proven to have a good nose and eye for taking out despair."

Kaze gave a node though it was his friend who patched in "Oh you know it, Kaze is like a weapon, if it was made of flesh and righteous anger."

The old man lets out a chuckle, it was a chuckle that would warm any hearts. "I bet the young maidens can't keep their hands off you."

"I do not deal with that type of distraction." Kaze said without a second through.

The man pauses a bit at that statement "Distraction?"

Imaeda "Oh that just Kaze being Kaze, he acting, heck he had a crush during Hope's Peak and..." A swift glare from Kaze sent the younger boy silent as the older man only laughed more.

"Ah the joys of youth." He says as the 3 of them finally reached the double doors, as the old man frowns and says "This meeting is for Kaze… and only Mr. Kain"

Kaze Kain frowns more at this for the first time feeling a bit protective "hey wait you can't just..." A hand on his shoulder stopped him, turning he sees his friend.

"Nah, not worth it Kaze, go right ahead, I don't mind. I need to take a number 2 anyways" with that the flamboyant kid waves him off as he walks off. With a nod Kaze and the Sanetomo walk into the room.

The doors then parted revealing a room, it was a large dark room and in the back of the room being lead by a long red carpet was a small platform and standing there were 7 seats, this being the 7 seats that belong to the Board of Talent, each one of them was filled with a member. They were all watching the two enter as Kaze watches the Old ultimate began to walk by and head to the stadiums. He actually noted 6 people sitting in the 7 seats, until he noted Nakasone Sanetomo walk by him and took his seat along with the other Board of Talent members. Kaze stares as the older man says, "Ah yes did I not mention, I am a Board Member myself..."

Nakasone Sanetomo- The Ultimate Grandfather.

However the memories of the past were yanked away from the inquisitor as he breathed in another gasp of the precious air, his arms moving on its own pounding and scratching at the man holding him as the man screams down.

"I am so sick of you traitor!" The policeman screams down at him,

Though he couldn't see them the citizens were all gathering at the edge of the lake screaming and panicking tell them to stop, not like Kaze was really doing anything, you know drowning and all.

Satoshi calling out as he waves his hands "Takeshi, stop man this isn't what this was supposed to be about." chucking his cards, which were branded with plastic into the lake has if they would do something.

The perfumer right next to her sort of friend "Ya you big dumb dumb, this is what they want."

Chi cheering saying "Cool I never seen a murder before!" Orochi eating some popcorn that he just sort of found. "Go kill him Takeshi," those in the rest fo the people calling that was drowned out which no one could really judge him.

However as Kaze was forced back under again, his fist coming into contact with something hard, assuming Takeshi's chin, those that didn't even stagger the cop. However as Kaze was shoved back up taking a breath of air, thrashing like his life depended on it, cause it probably did. However as Kaze stares up staring into the hate filled eyes of the police officer, him glaring down teeth grit as he and kaze have a moment to lock eyes, Kaze and Takeshi for that instance glare harder, until a small look of confusion spreads on Takeshi face as he looks down, as a pair of strong tan arms wrap around his waist, until he is then hoisted, releasing the inquisitor out of his grasp to grip the wrist of the person holding him. Lifting him up into the air going all the way up before coming back down behind the person in a move that close to if not exactly like a German Suplex. The top half of Takeshi vanishing into the lake as he goes limp a bit before standing back up. However the person how just slammed the cop stood there grabbing his wrist and holding him down. Standing there was the bodyguard herself pinning him to the shore.

Noboru and Tomomi goes and jumps into the water and they both go taking the elbows of the inquisitor helping him up.

Kaori is on top of Takeshi she seemed to have used his own cuffs to bind his hands together. "Sorry Takeshi but… you're under arrest" Takeshi glares with full hate at the bodyguard however that slowly vanished and replaced with something that can almost be described as… Regret.

Not that Kaze cared right now.

As Kaze looks around at the onlookers, they weren't staring at him or the cop. They were staring at the woman who just made good of her promise during her speech. It was then Kaze realized those votes no longer mattered, the citizens have just found their Mayor.

Kaori Moiriya.

"Kaze, you ok man, breath… live man, live" The tightrope walker panicked helping the half drowned ultimate to shore. Tomomi stare at the fight as though it were a car crash, her face darkening by the events that have just transpired between them.

"Noboru give him some space to breath." Tomomi quickly said putting him on shore with the feminine circus performer. The inquisitor was now in the few shorts days he been awoke to this nightmare has had his head beamed over with what he could only assume a rock, did damage to his own fist when he had that "minor" panic attack, everything involving that abomination he fought in the hospital which did a number to him and now, well he was half drowned. The inquisitor was a tough man no one would ever take that away from him, however he was still human, even if he didn't see it like that.

The others for a moment forgot about the ever encroaching despair to take a moment to either help detain the cop or help the would be victim to shore.

Kiaria was sitting next to Kaze and says "Ok take deep breaths who knows how much water you swallowed." She says in a soothing tone, as her along with Tsukasa were next to him patting his back as water shot out of the holy man's mouth, his leer looking past the girls in front of him staring at the man who tried to kill him.

Kaori stood before him as he sat on the bench near the park, he did note next to her was also Yuki, Waturu and Tokaku staring before him. It occured to kaze, how he and Takeshi seem to tower over the rest of the citizens since all of them seemed to be dwarfed by the cop, heck even the bodyguard seemed small compartably. There was a disturbing thought there of how one or two people were able to overpower the rest, it was something you don't really think about until you're forced into a killing game. That alone even thinking that seems absurd but it was true. You have to take everything into account, like physical attributes.

His gaze bore into the side of Takeshi, wanting to see if his old childhood imaginary super power of smiting people would finally hold true.

However a nice sized bust replaced the view of Takeshi, not that he was ogling anyone's chest but because Kiaria stood in front of him, and upon slowly gazing up the Inquisitor caught the Violinist saying. "Kaze, please focus. Just let it go ok?"

"He nearly tried to drown me." It was a simple statement, a true one at that.

"You did egg him on?" The soft voice of Tsukasa did surprise him, though his face never changed from his neutral one, it was a shock to Kaze that her of all people would bring that up.

"Ah, so that justifies me getting killed." Was all that was said by the Ultimate guardian, his spite shining through a bit.

Tsukasa gasped and shook her hands frantically "W….what no… no… I..."

"Mr. Kain I think that is quite unfair of you, wouldn't you agree?" The puppeteer spoke, Kaze seemed to note most people have either went, including Noboru who was once by his side went to Kaori, or indulged themselves in their self pity and went to go mourn the motives they now have, though Tsukasa, Kiaria, Kerria and Shino all stood by him.

Kairia says with a small disapproving stare. "You know what she meant Kaze." Continuing her previous statement and knocking Kaze out of analysis mode.

He considered her for a second before looking away as he put his hat back on, severely wet right now but that was the least of his concerns.

"I mean I guess we can't judge, we just sat back and watched." Shino stated as he held out his hand for the Inquisitor which Kaze did incline to take standing up.

Kiaria says "Well I was in shocked It happened so fast" the Violinist attempted to defend herself.

"It was scary" the painter dancer frowned at herself upon adding that to the pile.

"I honestly didn't want to get wet" Kerria spoke rather selfishly, although Kaze could respect the honestly.

Shino shrugs a bit and says "See and I just watched, so we all should be ashamed, so no reason for anyone to be mad at anyone."

Kerria looks over to the ? Ultimate and she says "I suppose that is quite a…. Unique way of viewing this situation."

Tsukasa frowns at everybody there as she went up to Kaze and stood next to him "I… didn't mean to accuse you I just… don't want any of us to fight, there's no reason for us all to be at each other's throats..especially at Kaze, he didn't do anything wrong." Kaze felt his smile return as it seemed like Tsukasa's trust in him at least was not shaken whatsoever, unlike some people whom he still did not gain that sense of respect back for yet, he thought to himself as he looked at Yuki… she was clearly giving him a cold shoulder but why… what did he do?

"Ah fuck off! You can't trust that traitorous cancer on our old city!" Takeshi's voice shouted out at Tsukasa's little outburst making her jump in place into Kaze's chest and while he did instinctively hold his hands out to catch her bridal style he almost immediately set her down, not letting it last long enough for them to make a moment out of it. "You're really just going to forgive that traitor?!"

Before Kaze could walk over Kaori got in between them and firmly shot a glare at both of them, as Satoshi, Noboru, Kyojin, and Haruna all held Takeshi down to restrain him. "That is enough!" Her hands shot out to both sides to silence them both "No more fighting… Takeshi, after that I'm sorry but we can't trust you to not try something… I reiterate, you are under arrest."

That made Takeshi's eyes shoot open as he trashed around in their grasp, going berserk seemingly even at the notion of this "NO! I try to help you and you think you'll put me in the klink!? You are out of your fuckin mind! Let go of me!" However whether they were actually able to hold him or if it was sheer weight they stopped Takeshi from moving as Kaori moved over to him and enforced the arrest, holding him by his arms which were still restrained within his own handcuffs. It seemed whatever regret was in his body was pouring out in pure hatred just at the idea that what he did seemingly was lost on the people there, Tsukasa's support of Kaze sending him over the edge as her and Noboru let Haruna, Satoshi, and Kyojin off the hook and escorted him to the jailhouse, but not without one final cry of primal rage "KAAAAAAAZZZZZEEEEE!"

Inquisitor Kain watched him be dragged off with nothing short of contempt for the man that just made an attempt on his life, and yet although Tsukasa did stand up for him it did seem like things just weren't that simple anymore. Right now there wasn't the usual bickering between Orochi and Haruna over some random video game, or Kaoru spraying someone in order to give them some sort of condition, or even Kyojin running around, as he was just walking on his own two feet solemnly heading to the restaurant for some form of comfort food. Kaze turned and saw Satoshi join Kaoru on a park bench and just passed a couple cards her way and the two began to solemnly play an uncompetitive game of go fish with his matching decks. Yuki had her hand on her chin seemingly lost in thought as she eyed Takeshi for a moment before walking off. For the first time in a while Kaze just, honestly didn't want to deal with this. He had just been a victim of a murder attempt and yet everybody was already lost in their own little personal despair, and he couldn't fight this one.

Things had changed, as the words and actions of Monokuma weighed heavily on everyone's minds. The Ultimate City had lied to them, taken their personal and heartfelt property, and stated that one of them was a traitor… it was a lot to think on. The hope filled get together of the election was over.

And the despair of the first motive was already starting to take root.

xxx

The red foot fell upon the tiles of the hospital, while his brethren were playing there little games with the children, he was actually going to be productive. He moved through the bleak run down halls of this once grand institute of health and life, now just empty corridors and vacant rooms of nothing but a reminder of death and all its bleakness. He absentmindedly wondered how often this place was used. A place the despairing would go for a faint lie of hope, for all it did was postpone the ending of their lives. But in the Ultimate City what real perils were there?

Finally coming to the door, looking over to the scene before him. This room was more disheveled then the rest of the hospital. "This must be where the inquisitor fought one of Gruff's creatures" With that he turns swaying his cape with that movement. "Good thing too, he was close to finding it before it was time."

King goes and went to the side of the wall where a filing cabinet was knocked over leaning against another set of filing cabinets. With a quick motion sent the cabinet to the ground. Looking up to see a door.

He went and grasp the door knob.

"Phuphuphu, what this? My FAVORITE kub is trying to be sneaky, going behind his siblings backs. Entering the secrets room..." A voice echoes throughout the empty run down structure. The supposed Royal agent of despair pauses briefly and without even turning around he mumbles out.

"Father" Then looking down the hall, standing there was none other the Monokuma.

As stated sitting on a desk was Monokuma sitting menacing in the dark, those it would be far more menacing if it wasn't for the fact that he was dressed up as a nurse, with a pink uniform and all.

The two Monos stared at one another.

"You know it ain't polite to sneak through Doctor Killgood's Building uninvited." Monokuma chuckles "He let me be his nurse and if I do a good job he will reward me with a nice mouth watering raw living Salmon." The insane bear comments as he bounces off his place on the table making a small squeaking sound as he hits the floor marching over to King. "So whatcha up too?"

Monoking looks over to him and says "I am adding something to the pot, to stir something up." Was all the Coffin Bearer stated.

"Does Monogruff know you're doing this" The mayor states as he trouts around doing a dramatic hip sway.

With a scoff the king looks away as he opens the door revealing a dark room. "That simpleton is too busy playing his foolish games, no he doesn't know and doesn't need to know"

He went turning away as if telling his supposed Father that this conversation was coming to a end and had other matters to attend too. As he took a step into the darkness of the room, he did hear his father say one last thing. "Remember Monoking, you shouldn't be keeping secrets away from family, we tend to take stuff like that rather personally. Phuphuphu" He let out a silent cool evil chuckle, making King pause for only a second before stating.

"Everyone has secrets." The supposed eldest sibling states before entering the secret room shutting the door behind him.

"Mmm interesting, I guess I been away for some time that now I don't even know all the motives of my own family, let alone these citizens in my city. Sadly I can't go into that room, I wonder if I can somehow trick that Inquisitor… so how long have you been standing there." After a moment the Ultimate Despair shook his head. "Don't matter. Do me a favor and keep a eye on Monoking and the rest for me won't you. Be a bear and help your old man out?"

After a brief moment of silence, Monokuma looks over into the dim darkness of the hospital his eyes trained on the stairwell, before a glowing eye jagged eye appears and a soft voice spoke.

"Of course dearest father." The darkness replied as Monolisa turns and walks off. "The answers are just behind that door."

xxx

"AH!" Takeshi let out a cry as he felt his back slam into the wall of the cell, his thrashing about leading to him tripping and slamming into said wall as he cursed under his breath at the pain of the impact "Why? Why do people trust that traitor over me?!" He let out an aggressive snarl as he tried to get up and leave but of course Noboru closed the cell door behind him as they put him in there, both him and the new mayor it seemed were looking at him from the other side of the bars as he slammed his fist against it and then in the next moment just collapsed against the bench in the cell, all his anger gone and replaced with pure regret and numbness "... Fuuuuuck the hell did I do?" Takeshi scoffed at himself, losing his temper again, he never was good at keeping that under control.

Kaori crossed her arms on the other side "You can come out once you regain mine and the others trust." She takes the key to the cell and puts it on her person, inside of her pocket and with that being on her person it was likely the safest spot in the entire city.

Takeshi put his head in his hands as Kaori and Noboru just silently stared at the cop, Noboru visibly troubled from likely the motive and the arresting of the cop, like most people probably would in this situation, as Kaori sighed the burden on her shoulders but she didn't let it crush her. "So not only am I not leader but I get arrested in the same day. Heh, my bro would be ribbin me like crazy right now if he saw this."

Noboru seemed to raise an eyebrow as his interest got peaked a bit, and as he always seemed willing to be the shoulder to cry on "You have a brother?"

Takeshi leans back against the wall nodding his head in response "Yeah, ended on bad terms though.. well kinda, i don't like to talk about it."

Noboru smiles a bit as his own experiences with his siblings seemed to play out in his head "Well I wouldn't worry too much about it, siblings get into fights all the time but they work it out, because they love and support each other."

Takeshi actually let out a small chuckle at Noboru's penetrating optimism "Cut that sappy crap man." Takeshi pauses for a second as he looks up "Oh yeah that's right… you have two sisters right? I think I remember you saying something like that back in the city."

Noboru nods his head and turns to Kaori with a smile "I think I can handle this for a while, I'll keep guard for a while and we can switch." Kaori thinks on it for a moment but nods her head.

"Ok, without the key he's stuck in there anyway and I do have some matters to attend to, just join me later at the park like we talked about." To which he nodded in compliance, allowing the Ultimate Bodyguard to make her way out of the police station, letting the two males continue their conversation.

"Yes I do, two beautiful, loving, and supportive sisters who've been encouraging me since day one." His eyes sparkled a bit as he thought back to them with all the admiration and love in the world. "... Oh and also a little brother but he's at home with father."

Takeshi sighed and crossed his arms, seeing the joy upon his face as he recalled them almost seemed to make him… envious. "Yeah they seem like great girls I'm sure. At the very least seems like you get along well."

Noboru nodded his head quickly, going at the speed of a bobblehead with his enthusiasm "Mmhmm, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have kept going with my ultimate talent. They supported me when nobody else would, maybe because they knew what it was like to be an ultimate. There's Eiko, the Ultimate Florist, and Toshi, the Ultimate Decorator. Apparently there were a couple people they thought about giving those titls but my sisters are truly the best at what they do!"

Takeshi rolled his eyes a bit but gives a small smile at his enthusiasm. "Good for you, your sisters sound great and talented to boot. And they made it to the city right?"

As Noboru gave yet another nod he felt himself frown again "Yeah they did, not entirely sure about where they are now and well…. I'm trying not to worry about them, I'm sure we'll find them eventually, right?"

With this Takeshi held open his palm and hit his other hand into it firmly "Yeah we'll get em, don't worry about it kid… Tell ya what, when I get out, first thing I'll do is get a search party and we'll work around getting that debris cleared and see what the rest of the city is like, we'll pick up any survivors we can." With that statement Noboru got close to the bars and gave a wide smile, extending his hands against it like he wanted to hug Takeshi but just settled for hugging the bars instead.

"That's so wonderful! Thank you Takeshi!" Takeshi smiled a bit as he looked at Noboru, like Tsukasa was to Kaze, even when others would vilify him… it was nice to know somebody was on his side at least.

"No problem kid…" Takeshi looked up from his seated position at Noboru, the police officer keeping his look of determination on his face "Ya know, I wanted to bring my brother to the ultimate city, but he wasn't an ultimate like I was, neither was ma."

Noboru frowned and hopped up on the desk listening intently "Oh? Why don't you tell me about your relationship with them? Maybe you just need someone to talk to about it."

Takeshi let out a sigh and waved his hand like he was about to dismiss it "Nah it's a long story."

But Noboru continued on with his encouragement "I have time."

The cop and the tightrope walker looked at each other and smiled as Takeshi began to tell his story, the two passing the time in the jail and letting the tension of the motive die down, at least for the moment.

xxx

As Kaori left the jailhouse she walked across the streets of the Ultimate City, letting a small sigh escaped her lips as the newly crowned Ultimate Mayor sat on a bench outside of the Power Plant. She looked behind her at the small building that housed the electric junction boxes that supplied electricity to all of the homes and businesses in the residential area and just let her head fall back to gently hit the black brick behind her. It has been a long day and it was barely even two at this point, she thinks, it was hard to tell time here. Great, new mayor of the former city of hope and the motive happened right before the big moment itself, and a murder almost happened right in the public square. There was a lot on her plate already here just from having her being elected when she didn't even necessarily want to run, but now from all this added pressure of attempting to keep everyone together. A motive where they found out that everything had been taken from them huh? A loss of security…

The one thing a bodyguard provides… she would have to give it back to them.

"Hey uh, Kaori? Or do you prefer Mayor Moriya now?" The toned bodyguard turned her head to see walking towards her was the camera clad Tomomi, her hair seeming to be more out of sorts than normal,and after stating her greeting she began to gnaw on her pencil out of nervous energy awaiting the response. She seemed more tense than normal, especially as she had seemed to gain a reputation as Kaze's "golden citizen" amongst the populace, behind her back of course, and mostly by the likes of Kaoru, Orochi,and Deku who never had much respect to lose anyway. A woman like Kaori though saw a girl who was working hard to try to keep things together and keep her passion at the forefront, a view that she could certainly respect.

Kaori sighs a bit "Are we really such strangers you have to ask?" The two girls looked at each other for a moment before Kaori extended a hand "Noboru said I should go by Mori for the near future. It sounds more "feminine" and "official", but really I think it is just because people keep getting my name mixed up with Kaoru's."

Tomomi looked up mid bite on her pencil and raised a curious eyebrow at her "Seriously?"

The bodyguard shrugs her shoulders in response "I will go with it for now, at least until this political nonsense wears off, so if people call me Mori you know why, but to us just keep it Kaori. Whilst I find the whole situation rather ridiculous, if it keeps the peace I will defend it with my life." Kaori looks over at Tomomi and firmly says "I meant what I said, not one person under my watch will be killed." She raised her fist with renewed vigor as she said her words before that was greeted by a flash that made her do a double take "Huh?"

Tomomi giggles a bit as she lowered her camera, checking her own candid photo on the mayor. "You have a certain aura when you get passionate, it really does grant some great photo opportunities." The picture began to develop right in her very hands as she then got a bit more serious. "I'm going to post this on the bulletin board and see if we can't add some morale but Kaori… what do we actually do about this?"

Kaori looked at her with her arms crossed "What do you mean?"

Tomomi replies "With this whole situation. Our stuff being stolen, the Ultimate City lying to us, the Mononkubs probably laughing their butts off about our panic right now. And I mean I believe Kaze when he says he has no involvement in this." Tomomi raises what looked to be a newspaper article "But then I look at the articles I sent out that never made it and yeah they could do some harm to the city's reputation but Kaori people should know these things if they're going to be putting their trust in here. And they just… censored us."

Kaori gently moved next to her, shoulder to shoulder so that she could look at the article, not out of curiosity or hurtful privacy invasion but more necessity of needing to know what this City's crimes were in the past. "I see… no matter the stance though, drowning him would have solved nothing, and if what they say is accurate, just lead to two pointless deaths."

Tomomi defensively shakes her head "No no no no I'm not implying what Takeshi did was right by any means no, I'm just saying we know next to nothing about this guardian for a city we cant trust anymore… and it's leaders are gone and unable to answer our questions… I just wish I could interview him and find out for myself."

Kaori read the article and as she did, her eyes went from determined, to an angry glare as she again gently took it out of Tomomi's hands. "With your consent, I would also like to post this on the bulletin board in the center of the district.. this should be public knowledge as well."

Tomomi quickly nods her head "Go ahead, that's what I wanted from these stories anyway, to be published." She quickly walked alongside Kaori to match the bodyguard's brisk walking pace towards the board as they spoke "... You think the others will be able to handle this?"

Kaori paused for a moment to look at her, and then back at the article with a sigh "The optimist inside of me wants to say yes, but in my line of work… well I wouldn't have a line of work if people didn't easily lose their security." As she stopped in front of the bulletin board, she hung her head for a moment of silence. "We can only hope this isn't crippling."

xxx

Inside of Ulti-Mart, Kerria and Haruna walked around, trying to hide their worries behind a shopping addiction. Well Kerria mostly, Haruna clung with her for a bit just to have someone to talk to about what was taken from her. Kerria mostly ignored the conversation herself, nodding her head and offering simple responses whilst scanning the aisles for any items of importance. Since Kaze hasn't been seen since the incident she thought she would help herself to whatever she desired whilst the golden boy was away.

Eventually Haruna caught onto what she was doing and sighed, stopping her own walk believing she saw something before jumping nearly out of her shoes when what she said angrily let out a "DAMNIT!" Haruna quickly turned to try and get Kerria for backup but her "friend" had already turned the corner to look at a pair of go-go boots that totally went with that hat she had and she just had to check them out.

Haruna after a moment decided to risk it and turned the corner to get a better look and… she saw Satoshi of all people, sitting on the ground slumped against one of the aisles, the fire in his eyes completely deflated as he stared at the "collection" section of the stores, with items like stamps, action figures, model kits, and cards… lots and lots of cards. Satoshi picked up one of the packs he hadn't opened yet and then just flicked it off his thumb back into place on the shelf with a dejected frown donned on his face. When Hatuna closed the distance she could see around his body was his own personal collection of cards strewn around his body. Haruna wasn't exactly the most tender person in the world but even she could tell this was just an awful sight from one of the most consistently energetic people in the city.

She knelt next to him and Satoshi just offered a cursory glance and a small wave before half-heartedly sliding a card into his sleeve. "Greetings…. Online… wench." He just didn't have the heart to try.

Haruna decided to at least try and make an effort despite well, not really knowing or caring about him that much. They can act civil but really this was still a city of strangers trying to get along in the worst possible scenario. "So, what's got you so down? You can't even come up with a clever reference or mumbo jumbo medieval slang term."

Satoshi just kind of nodded his head and began to fill his cards back up "It's uh nothing, nothing we can do about it." He tried to get up but Haruna just put her hand on the top of his head and shoved him back down, making his cards pool around his chest as she stared down at him unamused. "Fine, I am, as the common folk would say…. Upset."

Haruna rolled her eyes already beginning to regret this. "You don't say? I thought you were just doing some shelf stocking and doing a really bad job at it."

Satoshi looks up and retorts with "Well that's just silly."

Her head snapped on a dime for her eyes to meet his, any tenderness immediately replaced with annoyance "Talk!"

Satoshi jumped back at the sudden tone shift within Haruna's voice and he recoiled backwards, taking a few steps in retreat before falling back onto his back in a heap, tripping over his own trap cards. "Ow….. fine, you have bested me, you sassy witch."

Haruna crossed her arms with a small smirk on her features "Hmm, I thought so." Her eyes closed and her face was in that smirk, looking so content with herself… until they opened back up in realization "Wait hold up, witch?"

Satoshi decided to pick back up on the conversation before she held that against him "I… am simply coping with a trial you could not possibly imagine." She raised an eyebrow at him before he began to explain "So, I know it sounds sappy but, my grandma, she used to give me packages of cards once a week as kind of an allowance. In exchange I'd do chores around the house, and the hobby shop she worked at. That's how I started my collection."

Haruna felt her face lighten up a bit, her hard features softening "That's… actually kind of sweet."

Satoshi nodded his head a bit "Yes she is sweet, so naturally when I came here I wanted to continue my fantastic collection of phantasmic creatures from beyond the crevasse of the mortal coil… and so I did. I would take a pack of cards off of the shelves of this store once a week as I would do at home."

Haruna just kind of lifted her shoulder up in a lazy shrug "What's wrong with that?"

Satoshi then turned in a dramatic scowl of pure and utter hatred "The cards on these shelves are absolute lies! They… they are packs from my grandmother's shop!"

Haruna seemed.. confused "Say what now?"

Satoshi let out a primal growl, his mood shifting from one of beside himself levels of sadness to guttural rage "My grandmother was sending me packages of cards once a week, but I never received a single package once I got here! But, when I looked on the shelves, there would always be a package of cards waiting here. I had always assumed that they were simply just getting new shipments, and they were…. from MY STORE! They were stealing my grandmother's personal gifts and turning them into feed for the pile! Sentimentality tainted and turned into a business transaction. Those…. bastards will rot in the foulest pits of the Shadow Dimension! I will-"

Haruna after a minute of his rambling pulled him back with a hand on his shoulder "Satoshi… hey Satoshi stop being weird for a second."

To which he does and looks over at her with a questioning look "... What do I do now?"

Haruna put her finger on her lips for a moment, looking up cutely in thought before saying "Acknowledge that these gifts were done for the right reasons."

Satoshi just kind of stared at her for a moment "Wha-?"

Haruna continued "What they did to me, was they censored my blog posts onto my website. The censor got into my account and basically changed my words to plug the Ultimate City rather than give my personal thoughts. Like you they stole something personal and turned into something soulless. It, it hurts a lot… like a lot, a lot… but like when your grandmother sent you those cards, I sent out my posts because those were my words, my feelings. I did what I thought was right, as did your grandmother, and what they did doesn't take away those intentions."

Satoshi just stared at her for a long moment, his eyes piercing into hers before he slowly erupted into vehement laughter, overwhelming laughter that engulfed the room and even made Kerria turn her head as she was admiring the boots in her aisles. She did however noticed at the end of the aisle a crafts section and walk towards it, seeing a bundle of twine… and out that into her bag as well. Sentimentality never did go away after all.

Haruna looked at him with a pout, her hands going to her hips "And what is so funny?"

Satoshi then finally calmed down enough from his own uproarious laughter to answer her "To think that I would be moved and cheered up from the words of a witch, it's, it's very amusing to say the least." The card collecting weirdo looked over to her and then his face softened, and he stopped laughing "... Thank you, seriously."

Haruna lightly pats his arm as she walked past him to go locate her friend "No problem Satoshi… we should talk more, we aren't so different after all. I'm a nerd magnet, you're an idol to them, and you're better company than the twerp." With that she walked off and left him in the card section, letting the man reclaim his cards as he began to leave the store. Outside he saw he was greeted by the Perfumer, her tiny frame looking up at him and handing him a brown liquid "Here I got you a root beer, I assumed that would be ok."

Satoshi nodded as he walked away from the store with her "It is adequate."

The two of them walked down the street to head back to the park, to the mild-mannered game of Go Fish. "Did you get what you needed."

Satoshi looked back at the supermarket, and down at the sleeve of his jacket, where his card holders were stored "... In a way, I suppose so." He took a sip of his drink, and then immediately spit it back out. "What is this abomination!?"

Kaoru looked up innocently "Root beer." Before that innocent look breaked into a smirk "Laced with coffee creamer and grease I found under the stove!" With that she took off, Satoshi in a full on sprint in pursuit.

"GET BACK HERE FOUL DEMON!"

While they were still having their conversation, Tomomi and Kaori looked to the side and saw the retreating shape of Kaoru turn the corner and then duck to a crevasse in between buildings, whilst the blur that was the speeding Satoshi ran straight past her and kept on running whilst screaming his lungs out about spawns from the army of Abaddon.

Tomomi just looked on and blinked, as if she had absolutely no idea what to say to that, and settled with a simple "What was that?"

Kaori however gave a small smile "Hope… that was a sliver of hope."

xxx

My hero

Kaze looked up at the personal painted mural from Tsukasa, his face falling and his hand raising to his forehead in annoyance not at her but really at everything. He was almost drowned, and now it seemed as though everything was falling back on him, he was still the scapegoat where all their problems were personified. Every single bit of doubt handled by every single student, was now on him. The city he protected, the city he stood up for, the city he dedicated every facet of his being as an inquisitor into… and it lied to its inhabitants. Stole personal possessions, personal letters from loved ones… personal feelings of safety.

Kaze walked past his living room up to his bedroom on the second floor, and then past that to the bathroom, where he looked at his shower head before turning it, watching the water splash out of it and hit the floor below. Perhaps a bit dramatic yes but he began to think about things as he stripped down to try and cleanse himself after all of the beatings, emotionally and quite literally to his physical body. His ability to think clearly, to want to continue to do his daily patrols, to even want to be the Inquisitor was all hurting right now. Was his entire position just a front? A buff yes man that would ensure nobody would ask questions? Was his entire devotion to this city a lie?

As the water rinsed down his long, green hair Kaze finally felt this physical agony on his body kick in and knelt down before he finally sat down in the shower, the water hitting his lowered head as he felt some of his wounds begin to sting and burn from the water but he was too lost in his own thoughts to truly notice. The cuts and scratches on his arms, legs, and chest washed with his own blood with both clean and murky pond water alike, all of Kaze's pain and anguish messing together in a mixture of messy bodily fluids. Kaze looked out of the glass pane that stopped the water from spilling out onto the floor and saw his own top hat, placed delicately on the sink so as not to cause it any unnecessary wear and tear. It reminded him of something, something he hadn't done in a long time.

Kaze clasped his hands together, and whilst the cleansing waters rained down on him… he began to pray.

xxx

"So, why are we doing this again?" Asked an almost tired looking Wataru, rubbing his eyes. No whether he was actually tired or just generally lacking motivation it was hard to tell. Either way Wataru gathered here at the guidance of the only person still with enough energy to do anything, along with Takara, Daichi, and Kyojin.

Kyojin was on his hands and knees, his nose downwards like a dog that was just told no "Yeah I just want to go home and lie down, put on my masks and see if I can use the mirror to scare myself to sleep."

Daichi continued this line of questioning "Yes I-" he stopped in the middle of his sentence to look at Kyojin with legitimate disgust "Blech, yes I do admit this does seem a bit strange."

And speaking of the person who gathered them, she turned the corner and on top of her head, no joke… was a general hat that looked completely made of paper, like a kid creating it for Halloween in the arts and crafts class in school. "Now ladies and gents, we are going in there with one mission! To find the severed head of a giant bear creature that Kaze decapitated so that we can prove that he is not a liar and restore his good public image! As his closest friends, it is up to us to do this while he is recovering!" Standing in front of them was the dance painter herself, Tsukasa Thailynn. "I would've invited Shino too, but if he doesn't want to be found, he's not found. His loss when we get all of Kaze's love and affection for saving his career!"

The crowd before her stared at her with an incredibly awkward look upon pretty much all their faces, except for Takara, who jumped up and clapped her hands yelling "Yay we're Kaze's bestest friends!"

Daichi felt his eye twitch slightly "The fact I am paired with this rabble aside, why are we not being greeted by Kaze himself? I was expecting him to at least be a part of this. That's the entire reason I came."

Tsukasa smiles cutely and says "Oh he needs his rest. I knocked on his door for 15 minutes and waited, and i saw his light on in the bathroom upstairs so I know he's home, but I just let him recover and decided to do this for him."

Wataru brought up "Wait… you know where the bathroom in his house is?"

Tsukasa says nonchalantly "Oh yeah I stayed there last night." Once everyone gave her the weirdest looks, it occurred to her what that implied and she blushed heavily "B-but nothing happened. I stayed over because I saw those creatures, I know what they can do. He saved my life, so I am going to clear his name as the hero this city needs!"

Daichi who was not at all jealous of Tsukasa, why would he be, said "Ah I see… so where is this "giant bear head?" he says in a very aggressive questioning tone.

Tsukasa salutes, taking her role as leader very seriously "I am glad you ask, so based on my calculations, and Kaze cursing about a little girl stealing his things, I found out that Monobabe hid the head somewhere in the hospital. So let's go get us that head!" she turned and began to walk towards the hospital only to find nobody was following her "Why aren't you guys coming?"

Takara answered "Because Wataru wasn't going and he's hopeless without me."

Wataru rolled his eyes "Yeah that's it, more like…. But why though? We aren't really friends."

Tsukasa let out a loud, audible gasp that sent her hat flying off of her head and fluttering down to the ground on a light breeze. "Aren't even friends?! After all he's done for you?!" she strutted over to Kyojin with a very disappointed look on her face "Kyojin, what about that time Kaze made you a milkshake, specifically for you?!"

Kyojin looks up with a growl "But he hit me, and he didn't even get me my toy. With interest, that goes up to 5 and a half toys he owes me now." He then made an "ooooh" sound before crawling over and grabbing her hat "I'll call it even if you let me take this hat though."

Tsukasa let out a scream of despair "Not my hat! I spent an hour on that!" To immediately relent and say "Fine, if it helps Kaze."

Kyojin puts it on his head and smirks, running around and yipping happily "Look at me I'm a general, a ten hut!" Despite many people finding it more adorable, Takara jumped back and let out a shrill scream of terror at the creature actor's natural scariness that he possessed.

She then moved over to Daichi "Daichi, who is it that you spend most of your time trying to impress?"

Whilst Daichi gave her a look that can only be given by a kettle being called black by a pot, he did nod his head "You raise a point."

Moving down the list she went to Takara next "Tak-"

"I'M IN!" Yelled the curator before Tsukasa even spoke a word.

Tsukasa "..." After a second of stunned silence she moved on "And Wataru, remember when Kaze acknowledged your existence that one time?"

Wataru touched his chin "Hmm, well I do like it when people acknowledge my existence." Tsukasa moved on as Wataru finally seemed to fully realize what she said "Hey wait a minute I-"

"Then it's settled!" Tsukasa announced as she turned back to the hospital with the group behind her "Let's go recover that head!" she began to march the group towards the hospital's doors.

xxx

"Now remember little one, don't let them come back to the Hospital." Monobabe looked up and felt the top of her head get kissed by her older sibling, followed by an affectionate head rub as the robotic bear head was put into her arms "Now go."

xxx

Tsukasa had her hand reach for the door, her fingers inches away from getting it open before the door slammed open into her chest, sending her flying back into the wall as Monobabe lunged out of the hospital and jumped over the top of all of their heads, before dropping the head at her ankles and grinning under her mask. "Catch me if yu can, owd wady!" She then blew a raspberry with her mouth before running away from the hospital, heading towards the Subway with the bear head in her hands.

Tsukasa peeled herself off the wall and let out an indignant growl "That hurt, get her!" she pointed in her direction before her and her group chased after the surprisingly fast toddler kub.

They ran by Kaori and Tomomi again, and this time Kaori didn't have the same reaction "... I don't like this, you stay here I'll go check this out." She pat Tomomi's shoulder before scrambling to run after the group who was running after Monobabe and they entered the Subway. Tomomi sighs and turns her head, before raising a curious eyebrow as she saw standing in the middle of the open doorways of the hospital was Monolisa, watching them leave before turning back around and closing the hospital doors behind her. After debating it with a moment to herself, camera in hand, Tomomi approached the hospital.

xxx

She has never been in the hospital since waking up to this new and horrifying world, however much like the rest of the city it seemed to be in ruins. She moves quietly down the dark dimly lit halls and corridors of this structure. However the building though new in its makeup seemed old by it's current design and thick layer of dust everywhere. The building creaked and made odd sounds and even the occasional thud or slam of some sort of cabinet of book casing that decided now of all times to be a great time to finally give way and fall scaring the daylights out of anyone who would be currently in this establishment. That person today would be Tomomi.

With each careful step, her hands were firmly on her camera ready to snap a quick picture if she needed to. She lost sight of the Yellow Kub the moment she walked into the structure, however the sound of clicking heels echoed throughout the building giving her a vague idea of where she was.

Upside, she knew where Monolisa was going.

Downside, the constant sound of clicking heels and just that was a phantom of a feeling.

Tomomi regretted going in alone, however as a proper journalist she was willing to make any sacrifice for the good of the story, didn't mean that didn't scare her though. Passing the lobby which looked as if a bull and a vacuum had a fight, featuring over-turned chairs, the desk crumbling, paintings and other pleasantries she sure at one point were meant to soothe patients now only added to this horrid sense of dread that this place seems to not only radiate but create and add to the cities over-arching feeling of hopelessness. However the feeling only creeped her out even worse when she finally reached the stairs. Waving off the idea of using the elevator for two reasons. First and primarily is the fact it probably had no power. And secondly even if it did have any juice she wouldn't trust it given the state of decay the rest of the building seem to be in. However returning to the idea of the stairs, Tomomi stood at the bottom of the staircase, ascending the tall building and of course the constant sound of the clicking of heels is heard. So clearly the most attractive of the Kubs was currently walking up the stairs.

"Odd, can't they teleport or something?" The Journalist asked herself before finally beginning her own ascent a bit faster than the despair child considering she did want to know which way she was going.

Looking back on it, she probably should have been quiet, however the flight up was uneventful to say the least.

A swinging followed by a soft bang is heard, the universal sound of a door opening.

Oh no, she had to hurry if she didn't see which door she went in she may never find her. Or at least it will make this little venture into the hospital take longer then she wanted it to begin with.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot" She bit her pen as she hauled past the third flight, briefly wondering why a city of this size needed a hospital with nearly 15 stories, that didn't make sense.

That thought was quickly forgotten when she came upon the 7th floor and saw a sight that chilled her for a brief moment, that being a door widely ajar and held there by a chair.

"Wha..." she mutters, 'wait this probably isn't the door she went through, this was probably always like...' the clicking sound, she heard the heels echoing from that doorway growing fainter and fainter.

"Why would she do this, leave the door open like that… it's almost like she wants me to follow her." Well that was a disturbing thing to consider. What if this was an ambush, could she even take a monokub on by herself? What if this was just a ploy by one of her fellow citizens working with the kubs to get her alone so they could kill her? Could she fight back? Could she take a life to save her own? Could….

Wow her mind went to a dark place quickly. Her more rational side of her steeled itself against the ideas at hand. No that wasn't possible she was the only person in here besides the female Kub. Monolisa was just trying to spook her or something, though now knowing that the yellow one knew she was following her was worrying but she just had to be more careful. She then took a step and entered the dark hall. Though even she had to admit, up until now she's been managing to block these thoughts out of her mind, but here alone she just realized that this truly did feel like a…

Killing Game.

xxx

Monobabe ran through the ruins of the Subway, the pacifier in her mouth (or is it on her mask? Hmmm, questions) in full sucking motion as she turned on a dime and headed down a section marked by the train tracks. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her as Kyojin was the first to arrive with a skidding of his paws (errr hands) against the concrete as he looked down the section and waved his hand "Grrr she went this way!" Before he started barrelling forward on all fours as fast as his arms and legs could carry him. Tsukasa caught up to him and looked down the corridor, seeing of all things, a bunch of run downed trains. This section looked like it had been out of commission for a long time, and while some of them certainly look like they could run, it was just a scene of an unwanted and discarded train depot. There were dozens of them, creating a labyrinth of steel and fallen rubble for Monobabe to hide in. Nevertheless, she would give chase, as Tsukasa then ran as fast as her legs could carry her down the corridor. Daichi was next, followed by Takara and Wataru, who followed their "leader's" example and booked it into the train depot. Kaori finally showed up at the end, although her pace was a bit more leisurely as she was able to discover just from the nature of this that it wasn't dangerous, potentially stupid, but not dangerous. She stood in the entrance to the depot, more standing guard than participating, but curious to see what exactly they were after the child for.

Monobabe ran through an opening in one of the trains, and as Kyojin began to give chase he just ran face first into the many, many pounds of Monoboss, bouncing off of it like it was a trampoline before physically landing in the arms of Tsukasa and knocking her straight onto her back. The others finally caught up with them to see that coming into view on the train was not only Monoboss, but the added bodies of Monogruff and Monomaxime joining the fray. The tallest and strongest Monokub let out a guttural roar, whilst the more refined one simply nodded his head and offered a bow to them.

Monoboss smacked a hand across his rotund figure and bellowed out a laugh "To think you'll get past us, big and round."

Gruff flexed his muscles in plain view of them "We will protect our sister, safe and sound."

Monomaxime offered a wave to them "You won't startle us, we shall stand our ground."

The then all did a unified point towards the group before exclaiming in perfect unison "For little Monobabe will never be found!"

…

The group before them seemed completely stunned silent. It was Daichi who finally spoke up "Well that was tacky. How long did it take for you to rehearse that? Four hours?"

Monogruff pointed his finger accusingly at the director "Hey it only took half an hour!"

Monoboss crossed his arms with a huff, his large hand reaching into his pocket to take out a cigar and out it into his mouth and take a drag off of it. "This is the last time we try to do something entertaining for you little bastards. I ain't gonna pour my heart out just to be called some typa fairy."

Monomaxime let out a little chuckle "I don't know, I had a fun time."

Monoboss then gave them the biggest grin "Eh showtime or not, you ain't ever gettin to that little girl while we're around. She's gonna be hidin safe and sound behind all of us, capiscus?"

"Yeah you tell em big bwotha!" All eight people in the vicinity turned their head to see the smallest kub holding the robotic head in her tiny little hands, watching them all from an opening into another train "... Whoops!" And then she dashed away to the side.

Monogruff slammed his hand against his face in agitation "Son of a bitch!"

And so the chase began again, well for the first time in this new setting, the train depot providing cover as the eight men and women on the premises gave chase after the toddler, her feet creating little noise as she dashed through the cars like they were nothing.

Daichi turned a corner and found himself face to face with Monomaxime, the two flamboyant man face to face with one another as they then darted towards each other before turning through a tram car and coming out the other side. The two men looked at one another again to find that Daichi was now wearing Monomaxime's flamboyant red outfit and mask, whilst Monomaxime was now clad in Daichi's carrot colored attire. At the realization his mask was off, Monomaxime quickly covered his face and ran off, leaving Daichi there by his lonesome to shrug and run back through the tram car to have his clothes go back to normal.

"Monobabe, where AAAAAARRRREEEE you?!" Yelled Takara as her and Wataru scrambled down a line of the trains, their small bodies going as fast as they could go before they rested themselves against a wall, their backs to it as they panted from the exertion.

"I'm really starting to think this was a bad idea Takara." Complained the paleontologist as he stretched and panted trying to get his bearings back. Takara walked away from the wall a bit, like she was ready to begin the chase again with renewed vigor.

"No idea is a bad idea if you believe hard enough Wataru, now come onlet'sgocatchthatlittlekidwithaseveredhead!" She began to take off again but saw blocking her way at the end of the line was the giant figure of Monoboss, the sickest grin on his face as he saw these two vulnerable teenagers right in front of him.

"Ehehehe, well now what do we have here? Two exhausted little brats unable to keep goin? Time to bring em back to the boss man's boss and get a handsome reward!" Monoboss then charged forward as fast as his stubby legs could carry him, his speed gaining a vast amount of momentum as Wataru pressed himself against the wall in pure terror, whilst Takara watched him in sheer terror and paced back and forth in terror before huddling down in the fetal position. Unable to stop himself, Monoboss's face lit up in a silent scream before he ran shin first into Takara's side, knocking over the ditzy curator, but leaving Monoboss a tumbling mess as he stumbled forward and then did a full front flip, his back flying against the wall with incredible momentum as Wataru didn't manage to get out a single word before…

WHAM!

Monoboss splattered against the wall before falling down in a huff rubbing his head, Takara effectively scared off by the giant ball of a man who rubbed his back and scowled "Ah my achin back." seemingly unknownst to both of them, in a heap a small man splattered against the ground, and upon hearing the sound Monoboss saw the crumpled heap of Wataru against the ground, his body effectively flattened by the mass of Monoboss splatting him against the wall, making the big guy let out a loud scream of panic on how much trouble he'd be in killing a resident like this. Luckily for him, Wataru let out a raggedy breath, as Monoboss did the same before pulling a piece of paper and a pen out of the ether, writing down a note and putting it on Wataru's chest before hurrying off.

I-O-U-1 Lasagna."

In a similar situation, Kyojin was being chased down a series of cars on the back of a locomotive by Monogruff, the largest Kub chasing one of the smallest citizens across the tram cars and laughing gleefully at the thrill of the chase. Kyojin was on all fours, thinking of something, anything he could do to get Monogruff to go away. "Run little rabbit run gwahahaha! When I get my hands on you i'll skin ya alive!" Gruff continued the chase to the very end of the locomotive, the control room, where Kyojin ducked behind the corner and got an idea, fiddling around in one of the compartments in his outfit taking out a mask and putting it on. "Are you in… HERE?!" Monogruff yelled as he peeked his head in the cabin with a smirk, only to be met faced to faced with a mask of a terrifying horned devil, it's face a hellish red with spittle coming out of the gaping maw that was it's mouth as it roared it's bellowing roar at him. Now Gruff was a man's man, nothing terrified him, he could eat a bowl of toothpicks for lunch with only blood freshly squeezed from a cow carcass to wash it down.

…..

"EEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!" His arms flailed as Monogruff ran away in sheer terror at the creature before him, even tripping on his way out of the tramcar and out into the depot as he scrambled to get away from the hellspawn. Kyojin after knowing it was safe removed his mask, a boyish grin imprinted on his face as he gave a wink at Gruff's retreating form "Rawr."

Tsukasa on the completely opposite end of the spectrum had found Monobabe retreating into a section of six adjoined train cars, three on each side as they formed a sort of hallway section of the train depot, with one final car at the end forming the end. Tsukasa began to slow her pace down, believing she trapped Monobabe. She put her hands on her hips for a moment, feeling confident before Monobabe jumped in the final car, before flying through the lower left hand tramcar behind Tsukasa and mockingly blowing a raspberry at her. Tsukasa turned around in complete shock as Monobabe cartwheeled into the right hand side tramcar, Tsukasa following close behind in hot pursuit. Tsukasa re-emerged on the top right hand side before going into the middle left one, Monobabe coming right out that door before barrel rolling into the final car.

Daichi and Takara emerged from the right side and ran over to the left, crossing paths with Monoboss and Monomaxime as they did. Kyojin then came from the left hand side and crab walked across to the other side as Monobabe emerged from the door he was going into and jumped over him, making him switch directions and chase her changing his run into an inverted handstand. Monomaxime came back out the end door on a unicycle and cycled into the middle left door, where coming out of the top left was Monobabe riding on Maxime's shoulders. Coming out of that door and running to the bottom right was Maxime on Boss's shoulders. Then finally doubling back to the lower left hand door was Boss on Gruff's shoulders, the eight foot mountain man nearly toppling as he struggled to carry the lard of Boss. Tsukasa came back out from the end and looked around before Monobabe peeked her head out and taunted her, making her double back into that door before she then fell from the ceiling and landed on her butt, making an "oof" sound while she then ran into the middle right door. Takara then chased Monobabe across the train depot whilst riding Kyojin like a bucking bronco before they vanished into the end train, before they then ran back out screaming as Monogruff came charging at them with a baseball bat.

Finally for a moment all the commotion stopped and then coming out of the middle door was a man in a black jacket with moderately spiky brown hair, with one strand standing up before leaning over slightly. His appearance was very average, yet the normal viewer could tell that there was something special about him, he looked confused and a bit lost. "This isn't the academy… Kyo- AAH!" Tsukasa came barreling out of the side door and accidentally hip-checked him, not seeing him and launching him back through the door before being spat out the right hand door was a bobblehead of that exact same boy. She made a shocked "ooh" sound before picking it up and smiling "Lucky find." She held onto it and ran through the end door.

After a small bit of more silliness, Daichi, Takara, Kyojin, and even a dazed Wataru rejoined the fray and began to check the tram cars one by one. After checking all but the bottom left one, they all huddled together and began to tiptoe towards it, Tsukasa making a "shhh" motion with her mouth as she then slowly peeked her head into the final tram car…. And then roaring out came the giant head of a Monokuma with the buffness of a bodybuilder and a super saiyan aura around his body as they all dispersed into different cars with the Monokuma chasing after them. Then coming out of all 7 entrances were several different Monokumas, all joining together and beginning to dance as pink rave light shone down onto them. "It's fun to stay at the…. K.U.M.A! It's fun to stay at the K.U.M.A!" They began to chant as they danced before running back into the doors.

Finally ending this chase scene, Monoboss, Monogruff, and Monomaxime all went into entrances on the right before Daichi, Wataru, and Takara slammed those doors shut, cutting them off as Monobabe emerged from the left side before ducking into the end one and letting Kyojin and Tsukasa slam the doors on the left side quickly before they all followed the despair child through the end.

xxx

Kaze finally departed from his shower, at least feeling somewhat clean after all of that grime and sin from the past three days catching up to him. He put on his pair of boxers and his undershirt as he usually did before just taking a moment to stare at his wardrobe. All the same clothes, every outfit just a replica of the other, being an Ultimate is just looking the part after all. Kaze frowned as he took one of his many trenchcoats off the wall. He put it on and then just felt the fabric, the feel of it against his skin feeling like that sin was just creeping back with every passing moment. He put on his pants and laced up his boots, ready for another day of being the Ultimate he was meant to be… but before rejoining the others he just leaned against the window and took a minute to admire the city, in a way. At least seeing the horrific aftermath of what used to be his serene city of hope and lies. He looked at the rows of houses all giving the residents a place to stay, once a district for the highest Ultimates at least considered by the city, it was now simply a wasteland where the survivors tried to thrive. He looked at the lines above the city, providing power from the houses all the way to the power plant and park on the other side, a part of him astonished they were still standing, or perhaps they were repaired specifically for the killing game. Either way it didn't matter, at least they weren't quite literally left in the dark. Kaze then stuck his hand back into the bathroom to retrieve his top hat, and out it atop his head, fixing it so it was straight on his noggin. He opened the door and was ready to leave, where a person was waiting startling the Inquisitor. "Ah… well this is a surprise Shino."

The dirty looking Ultimate nods his head a bit and simply extended his hand "Something is going on… I'd prefer it ends soon."

Kaze furrowed his brow but then offers a simple nod of his head, then raised it to look up at the sky "It's beginning to get dark, I'd say around eight… yes let's end it, show me the way."

Xxx

Passing the empty rooms of the hospital was like something out of a horror movie, such a surreal feeling walking by the deshleved rooms. Empty, though she doubts they were in use, more of show rather than to do anything with them. So much time and resources all put into this massive symbol of hope… well it is not hope anymore now is it? More like… not despair, more like hopelessness. Why would they do what they did, go behind everyone's back and lie to their faces about the outside world? Is the outside world even ok? Is there even an outside world? Are they what is left of humanity?

Tomomi had to actually pause and stop moving for a second to get a grip, she like usual was thinking of too many scenarios with very little evidence, all she had going is that they were in this awful place and no one has come for them. But that isn't too surprising is it? "The Ultimate City can withstand a army, the outer walls are near impossible to breach." She says quoting something she read on one of the memorials that she remembers stumbling across during her time in the Ultimate city.

She wished Kaze was here, she should have brought him. He somehow made her feel safe.

As she was about to continue she took a second to look around, it seemed to be some office room that looked like a fight has occurred there as things were thrown everywhere and many of the equipment and glass were damaged, or shattered. There was a massive desk in the center of the room, and at the end of the walls were just filing cabinets and other miscellaneous hospital and office supplies. Where did Monolisa go? She saw her come here right? Did she miss a turn?

Glass cracked and shifted down the wall, as if someone or something disturbed it. It took a moment for the panic to vanish to realize that someone was coming. She quickly began scrambling for a place to hide, and there was only one such place.

Ungracefully she moved and hid under the desk of the room, putting her hand to her mouth to keep herself silent. She could feel the sweat beginning to pour out as she looks between the crack between the desk and the floor.

A red foot hit the tiles on the floor.

Her hand clenched to her face more to prevent her from screaming, eyes widening as she then watches as a flowing fabric followed the foot and then by a wooden box of some sort, she already knew who it was. It was not the Yellow Kub but now the Red one. When did he get here? Only after a moment of stunned fear did she realize he was talking, catching only the last part of his statement.

"...he was close to finding it before it was time." His rough and deep voice said echoing through the building. She watched as his foot moved heading towards something and the massive smashing sound of tin hitting the ground, her eyes moved seeing the cabinets that were by the wall now being thrown to the ground.

Revealing a door behind them... What?

"Phuphuphu, what this? My FAVORITE kub is trying to be sneaky, going behind his siblings backs. Entering the secrets room..." A voice echoes throughout the room and was even more deafening to her. Is that...

"Father" Monoking answered, so it is. Monokuma was here, and he was just above her. That despair filled psycho was standing on the desk she was currently under.

The two figures stood in silence, somehow the silence was worse than them talking to one another, why were they being quiet… did the know she was listening in on them? "You know it ain't polite to sneak through Doctor Killgood's Building uninvited." Who the heck was Doctor Killgood? "He let me be his nurse and if I do a good job he will reward me with a nice mouth watering raw living Salmon. So whatcha up too?"

"I am adding something to the pot, to stir something up." The supposed eldest child answered his deranged father. Great so this is his plan to cause more chaos, maybe whatever he is talking about is behind that door.

"Does Monogruff know you're doing this?" Monokuma stated after that.

"That simpleton is too busy playing his foolish games, no he doesn't know and doesn't need to know" The king retorted back.

It was the oddest thing about being witness to this exchanged between the "mayor" and one of his children, when they were in front of the other citizens they act like they were in perfect unity. All of them against the survivors. But her hiding while listening to them now, it's almost sounded like they had their own agendas and weren't completely listening to one another. In fact it sounds like Monoking was actively going against the wishes of his fellow siblings. The conversation continues.

"Remember Monoking, you shouldn't be keeping secrets away from family, we tend to take stuff like that rather personally. Phuphuphu" Monokuma says as she watches as the feet of monoking along with the coffin he kept on his back slowly turns and retreats back into the now visible door, leaving monokuma to himself.

"Everyone has secrets." Was the last thing King said before that door closed.

"Mmm interesting, I guess I've been away for some time that now I don't even know all the motives of my own family, let alone these citizens in my city. Sadly I can't go into that room, I wonder if I can somehow trick that Inquisitor…" Wait he was trying to trick Kaze with what, for what proposed? Was this all just some masterful trick to get Kaze to kill first? That idea filled her with dread. ".., so how long have you been standing there." Her eyes widen as Monokuma spoke those lines. 'Oh God, he knows I am under this desk, he been toying with me. I'm going to die' she already could feel the tears forming in her face, this is it. She did something stupid and now she was going to suffer because of it. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, trembling with red veins caused by the stress with the reality crushing knowledge this was her end.

"Don't matter. Do me a favor and keep a eye on Monoking and the rest for me won't you? Be a bear and help your old man out?"

…. What?

"Of course dearest father." The darkness replied as Monolisa and her yellow eyes appear in the far end of the hallway. "The answers are just behind that door." She then heard the poofing of Monokuma vanishing, returning to wherever he goes when he leaves. Monolisa waited in the doorway for what seems like a eternity.

Then her eyes follow as Monolisa soon exits the room as well. Coming out from under the desk, though with slow movements, making sure she moved with care to not make a sound or cause a disturbance, making sure she was doing everything in her power to not sound the alarm to King, Lisa and especially Kuma. Soon what took most likely a minute but to her felt like an eternity she crept her head from under the desk and scanned the room. It was exactly as she recalls, minus the bears, which was always preferred. The only change would be the now revealed door at the end of the room. She allowed herself to take slow, deep breaths.

She had to get out of here before they come…

"The answers are just behind that door." Lisa's words echo through her mind. Slowly she turns her head back, about to leave but now she stared at the door Monoking went through. "Answers?" When Monolisa said that… was she talking to Monokuma or to Tomomi…

Tomomi then slowly walked back into the room, and then she went and turned the door knob to the door king went through… it twisted...it was unlocked.

With a deep breath and a soul filled with hope for the truth…

Tomomi went into the door.

Xxx

Whilst all this was happening around and below them, two Ultimates were taking a breather together inside of the Power Plant building. It seemed like it would be peaceful there, and aside from the whirrs of electricity it mostly was. Kiaria had plopped herself down on a railing, the violinist playing a soft melody with her eyes closed, the beautiful chords all composing a perfect harmony that was bliss for the ears, and for the hypnotist across from her, on the eyes as well. Tokaku blushes a bit as she watches the violinist across from her was in her own little personal wonderland, just watching her and her own serene performance, as if the motive didn't even effect her. In fact, she decided to ask as such "Hey Kiaria?"

The violinist continued her song, but offered an acknowledgement in the form of "Hmm?"

Tokaku twiddled her thumbs a bit "Well, doesn't this entire situation bother you? Us being turned against the city, and for good reason since the city turned on us? Like, you don't seem as upset as the others."

Kiaria continued her melody, her chords being stretched out a bit to hit more high notes and make the song sound more upbeat "Of course it upsets me, but if I let it keep me down, who does that help?" Tokaku looked at her with a curious look, as if that somewhat ditsy girl seemed to go into an almost zenned out state when she was playing her violin "Besides, the city was destroyed, and for now we are the only ones here. Nobody else is getting involved, the council isn't here anymore to bring us down. Getting upset about something we can't change will just lead to panic."

Tokaku after a minute felt herself move closer to Kiaria as she then gently took her wrist to make her stop playing, causing the violinist to open her eyes in shock "That's a great way to look at it but, you realize ignoring it will get people killed too. You know why people are upset right? It's part of the reason why I snapped at them today." Kiaria offered a simple shake of her head before retracting her arm back, but she was listening. "It's about security and what if's. You say this means the Ultimate City isn't watching but what if this is all one big ploy from the council to turn us against one another? A punishment for making the Ultimate City fail? Or what if the council is still alive and even a part of this? These aren't necessarily my thoughts, but they are thoughts had by the people here. Ignoring the problem will cause just as many problems, but openly acknowledging it will just cause a panic… it's a lose lose scenario."

Kiaria looked at Tokaku in a completely new way, the intelligence spewed from her mouth made her seem much more capable than any of them had seemed to give her credit for. "Hmmm, maybe you have a point… when did you become so smart about this kind of stuff?"

Tokaku waves her hand dismissively "Well you don't become a hypnotist without knowing a little bit about human behaviour. The problem is that bear seems to know about it too, he knows it will cause panic… so we need to be careful."

Kiaria nods her head a bit but then frowned "Is there anything else we can do? Because, I have a bad feeling about this."

Tokaku looked her in the eyes and then looked down at the ground "I don't know… we just have to hope something can be done. But I don't like that we have to sit on our hands and pray."

Kiaria then takes her violin back into her hands and smiles "Well, I can play another song."

Tokaku took a moment to smile and lean back, her eyes closing like she was thinking of something, some sort of plan maybe. "Go ahead, that would be lovely." the soft melodies of her violin began again, and the tension for the moment began to dissipate once again.

xxx

"I am getting really, really, really, really, REALLY sick of this child!" Daichi complained whilst one of his hands clutched his chest dramatically "Even more so than that child actor from Home and Boned."

Tsukasa, who was in the best physical condition of all of them, was even starting to get a bit tired herself, but her spirits were still high "I feel like we're close."

Wataru looked around through the buckets of sweat that was pouring down his face "Wait a minute… I remember this place." He points up ahead "Yeah me and Takara went through the tunnels, but the train depot must lead to that same pile of rubble that cuts off the districts.

Takara then jumped up and claps her hands in realization "Oh yesyesyesyesyes that's right! That means we'll catch her in no time! She has nowhere to go!"

With renewed vigor they walk forward and keep their pace slow to give them a rest as they eventually did come to the end of the tunnel, seeing the rubble stacked all the way to the ceiling. There was no way she could possibly…

Kyojin looked up to the ceiling and just openly yelled "OH COME ON!" Climbing up to the top of the rubble pile was Monobabe, one hand clutching the bear head, and the other pressing against a manhole cover connecting them back to the surface. Monobabe looked down at them and just did a little victory dance as the manhole cover finally gave way and gave her an escape route "Miss me, miss me, now you gotta do nothing because I"m undewage!" She then lifted up with one arm and swung her body up to the surface, having the faces of all belowground fall tremendously.

"Well this was an incredible waste of time." Muttered Wataru "Though I did want to explore the tunnels more, I had no idea there was a train depot down here. Did this place used to function as some sort of transport hub?"

Completely ignoring that point Daichi moved on to say "We shall never catch her now!"

And then in the ensuing silence, they all heard the sound of Monobabe screaming "Oh nooooooooooooooo!"

Tsukasa gasped as she quickly used her athleticism to climb up the rubble, to the awe of everyone down there and force herself up to the surface, where she was immediately met by Kaori, Shino, and of course, Kaze. Shino was holding Monobabe in his arms whilst she thrashed about, and Kaze nonchalantly walked over and took the bear head out of her hands "I believe this belongs to me."

Monobabe kicked her legs out at him now throwing a proper tantrum "You meanies! I shtole that fair and square!" Shino put her down and then Kaori followed up by standing behind her and glaring at the kid "Return to your older siblings now child, and leave the grown ups be."

Monobabe let out an angry hiccup before pointing accusingly at them "I'm tewwing daddah on yu! MYEEEEEEEHHHH!" Before she ran off, arms flailing as she bawled all the way.

It took the others almost ten times the amount of time it took Tsukasa to swing her way out, but one by one with Kaze and Kaori's help they were able to pull Daichi, Kyojin, Takara, and Wataru back up to the surface.

Tsukasa dusted herself off and looked up at Kaze, the admiration on her face so clearly apparent "Wow, how did you know she would be here in this exact spot?"

Before Kaze could say anything, Shino replied with "We didn't, we were walking to the subway and she popped out of the ground like a mole."

Kaori crossed her arms and frowned "That was very risky heading down into the Subway."

Kaze raised his hand "They did what was necessary, with their help, the city will know the danger present at night." He raises the head up with one hand "This monstrosity shall not claim a soul if we stay at home at night."

Kaori after a moment of looking at Kaze, the head, and the others catching their breath after that exhausting romp through the tunnels, she relented and nodded her head. "Very well, you all did well to retrieve this. Place it at the bulletin board by the rubble pile blocking off the rest of the city… you need to see that any way."

"Bulletin board?" Wataru asked aloud as he held his head in pain, all the exercise causing a ringing in his ears really messing with his hearing aid as Takara held him up.

Takara looked at Kaze and said "We're going to check out the bulletin board ahead ok?" Kaze nodded his head in response, so Takara, Wataru, Kyojin, and Daichi went on ahead as Kaori escorted them, leaving Shino, Tsukasa, and Kaze.

Kaze looked at Tsukasa and then over at Shino "Thank you for telling me about this, you are a true help Shino." At the praise to the Ultimate Who Knows, Tsukasa felt her mood deflate as if her efforts had been ignored, the dance painter backing up a bit and shuffling her feet.

Shino "Anytime." He says with such little emotion on his face before a small, half smile formed on his face and he began to walk away.

Before Tsukasa could do the same, Kaze turned to her and said "You too Tsukasa… I wish you had waited for me but you did what you could to help.. I truly appreciate your help."

"REALLY?!" Tsukasa beamed and her eyes quite literally sparkled as she turned around and ran into Kaze's arms, jumping up and giving him a hug as he sighed, regretting that he didn't know it would lead to this "That means so much that you appreciate me. B-because… all I want to do is help." She sniffles a bit "I got all those letters at once and I thought nobody truly wanted to apprec-..." She suddenly just stopped talking and jumped down "S-s-sorry."

Kaze looked at her curiously before concern actually showed on his face "Tsukasa…?"

Tsukasa looks away as if she just embarrassed herself and then extended her hand out to him "I found this, I know you've been starting a collection." Kaze felt her hand in his and when it opened, the bobblehead fell into his hand and he gave a smile, and when he looked back up at her, she was swiftly departing, seemingly not wanting to be dragged back into conversation about what she spurted out. Kaze didn't want to force anything, so he took the bobblehead and let out a side, turning and beginning to walk back towards where the bulletin board was said to be.

xxx

Kaze came to where the bulletin board was just as the others departed. When Kaze looked over to them and even offered a wave, they didn't even return his gaze as they walked back towards the Residential Area. Kaze found that incredibly odd, especially considering they just risked themselves to help him out. He then simply shrugged, trying hard not to let that get to him as he approached the bulletin board and placed the head at the foot of it. Now anyone who saw this head on the bulletin board would know that the city would not be trifled with at night. Kaze smiled a bit at his own handiwork, admiring how with the bit of help from Tsukasa he took down the terror of the night, the Monsterkuma (trademarked). After that his eyes scanned the bulletin board for anything else of value, and he noticed a single scrap of paper. It looked like a newspaper clipping. He leaned forward to read the scrap of paper… and then his face immediately fell.

xxx

Deku and Orochi stood back in the street, watching Kaze's reaction to the bulletin board and Orochi smirked with a sick little grin "Ten bucks he kills himself tonight."

Deku looks over and shakes his head with a small chuckle "You are one screwed up, sad child you know that?"

Orochi looked over with an angry glare in his eyes "Coming from the kleptomaniac!"

"Great comeback from the kid who has no friends so he follows me." He waves his hand dismissively and began to walk away.

Orochi' face became red with anger "Do not!" As he then proceeded to follow him.

xxx

 **Riots Break Out in Ultimate City! Citizen in Critical Condition! Inquisitor Kaze Kain Refuses to Comment!"**

 **Story by Tomomi Kamato**

Underneath the headline was a small picture in black and white of a bunch of unnamed rioters protesting in the street as the police force attempted to control it. Kaze barely could bring himself to read any more than that, even that small element of destruction in his city a punch to the stomach and physically knocked him to his knees.

"The protests accosting the Ultimate City have reached a boiling point when today a riot broke out in the streets. Unable to be contained by police, the riot turned to violence as a student by the name o-" The scrap stopped there, the rest of it torn like someone angrily ripped the rest of the article away and left it in its current disheveled state. Kaze backed up and clutched his head, letting out an angry roar straight from his soul "Refused to comment?!" He felt himself stare at the ground and begin to lose all track of time. He just stared at the broken concrete roads and then placed his hands on them, as if physically trying to suck the truth out of the city itself. Riots? Refusal to comment? What was Kaze a part of? Why can't he just remember? The sky darkened around him as he stared down at the ground, kneeling in front of the bulletin board in a desperate attempt to remember.

"It's getting late Kaze." Behind him like a specter, her sunhat low over her head, was the memorizer herself, Yuki. She walked up next to him and looked at the newspaper article and nodded her head "... I assumed information like this would surface." For once Kaze didn't question, he just kneeled there and looked up at the board. "When this game started it wouldn't be a stretch to assume they would use the city, and it's protector against us. That's why you can't be it's protector right now, and why you weren't on the ballot."

Kaze felt her words hit his ears but they were having a hard time truly breaking through his own thoughts right now "... I kind of understand."

Yuki slowly took a knee next to him "I didn't want to hurt you.. I want to save lives here."

Kaze blankly looked up and then stood in place "Mmhmm…"

Yuki looks up at him and stood up as well, turning him away from the bulletin board "You aren't in a good way right now…. Let Kaori handle the hard work right now, you need rest."

Kaze for the first time actually felt some emotion come to his voice as he said "You know I can't do that."

Yuki let that hang in the air for a second "I know." She was silent for a moment before patting his back "Let's go rest, it will be nighttime soon, sleep will help."

Kaze walked with her down the long walk to their houses "Yuki… you're good for this city, don't forget that."

They reached the center of the residential area as Kaze and her looked at each other before she touched his shoulder and looked into his eyes "You are too… no matter how hard you try to forget." She turned and began to walk to her house "Good night Kaze."

….

"Good night Yuki."

xxx

DING DONG DONG DING DONG

Monogruff image appeared on the monitors set across the city, as the citizens could see him posing, showing off his vast muscles. "The time is currently way too late, it is now time to go the eff to sleep and if the bed bugs bite, BITE BACK, take back what is yours… and sweet dreams… that was only for Monobabe the rest of you can get bent!"

"Thwank yu big bwothah!"

DING DONG DONG DING

Noboru looked up at the ceiling and smiled "Whoa, nighttime already? Geez we've been talking for so long I hadn't even noticed it got dark out."

Takeshi shrugs his shoulders a bit "Hey man, outside of video games, family memories are just a topic you can get lost in."

Noboru nods his head quickly in agreement "Oh I know, I used to talk with my sisters for hours and hours about stories from the circus. It… feels nice to talk about them again." His head went down for a moment as he thought about it.

Takeshi looks up from his spot against the wall and gives a thumbs up "Same thing with my brother man, well except for the circus thing, that doesn't apply to me at all. Sometimes you just need someone to listen."

Noboru looked at the door and stretched as he got up and then turned to smile "Well, stay strong Takeshi, you let me get a lot off my chest today, so just hang tough and I'll be back tomorrow." Takeshi just let his thumb hang in the air to signal he was ok, making Noboru chuckle as he exited the building. The sound of the door closing behind signaled the finality of the day to Takeshi, so he took his policeman's hat and drooped it over his eyes to try and get some shut eye, although as soon as he was beginning to drift off, he heard the sound of the door to the Police Station open, and a shadow come in and hang on the bars as a figure approached.

"The hell are you doing here?" Takeshi asked as the figure came into view.

And then the door closed behind them

 **Also a Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas thank you all for staying with us and don't worry things will be heating up soon enough. Bye!**


	9. Extra Extra the reports are in

**And we are right on time... no not really but we are only a few hours off, leave us alone haha but no thank you all for sticking by and we hope you enjoy this chapter. This one was a long one to get through writing but i think it was worth it. Until next time and I hope everyone is having a great new year!**

Monokuma Theatre

What is a promise but a lie you tell someone with the intent to keep it but you know deep down you won't and you're just postponing the disappointment. Honestly I always like making promises so I can mentally prepare myself to shatter the expectations of someone else. I remember this one time I promised my wife I will be there for her when she finally gave birth to our kubs. Oh I made that promise with no intention of keeping it. Well the reason is I don't have a wife so why would I go to her birth to our kubs if she never existed? Well that's why promises are the best, you can even promise to keep the promise. Oh how much I love giving promises to everyone.

End of Monokuma theatre

He didn't know or like what he saw on his porch when he finally decided to turn in for the night, he only just gotten out of his trench coat and tie did he actually here the knock on the door. Kaze wasn't one to get unnerved that often but sometimes their will just be something that gets to him. And today it would be answering the door.

No one was there as he swung the door open. He wasn't sure what he was expecting maybe Tsukasa to wish him a goodnight, maybe Shino wanting to have one last talk before bed. Maybe even the "new guardian" Kaoru or the always pushy Director Daichi but not this time. There was no one there however they was a something taped to his door side.

A simple file.

A simple file with "Kaze Kain Classified" in bright red letters on it.

Taking a momentary pause to turn back to the neighborhood looking at the closed houses and the vacant streets, only a single step onto the porch to see if there was anything hidden in the purview of his sight within the dark. With slowly narrowing different color eyes he slowly turn back around ina dismissive manner shutting the door. Those not before pausing and slowly peeling the tape carefully off the door and then the file.

With a twist of the lock snapping the door shut and secure. But still he waited turning and receding into his safety and familiarity of his room did he finally open the file and seeing the more confusing files inside. Giving more questions than answers. Mostly do to his almost to inconsequential the files in the folder were. However Kaze is a inquisitor and even the smallest and most unimportant of informations was still holds some value to the inquisit eyes of Kain. Those Kaze eyes did notice that this file almost seems empty, that the file seem by the showing of stresses and bends on the old file show at one point this file used to be pretty thick. Where was the rest of the file.

With a shrug of his shoulder he slowly pulled out the 20 pieces of paper from the file. It were simple little papers with basic info on… The surviving citizens. Those he notices on the inside of the world in a black curve penmanship seem to show striking similarities to his home penmanship it was almost uncanny, but he doesn't recall writing on this folder. Inside the file was the words.

Report Cards

Odd as he glances at the file one last time before placing the supposed report cards upon his working desk which was on the far end of his bedroom facing away from the door. Not the smartest choice tactically but he felt safe enough in his own home to believe this wouldn't be much of a issue. His eyes carefully scan the simple documents.

Kaze Kain  
Height: 6 ft 2  
Weight: 200 lbs  
Chest: 40 in  
D.O.B: December 24th  
Blood Type: O  
Likes: The Good Book  
Dislikes: Bears  
Notes: Ultimate Inquisitor  
Fun fact: Some people consider the Kain Clan to be the coming of the next messiah.

He even wrote a passage on himself and of course again all in this uncanny writing similar to his own. Noting on the top left corner of the paper is the tear marks of what would have once been a staple only proving that these documents used to be thicker and carry most likely far more valuable information.

Takeshi Kagohara  
Height: 6 ft 3  
Weight: 219 lbs  
Chest: 44 in  
D.O.B: June 24th  
Blood Type: AB  
Likes: Order  
Dislikes: Difficult People  
Notes: Ultimate Police Officer  
Fun Fact: He was once station at a small City that had a major Yakuza Syndicate plaguing it, however within 24 hours of his station the top members of the Syndicate turned themselves in because of Officer Kagohara's unrelenting and very violent persistence.

Pausing on the cop and letting out something close to a sigh, he could feel those strong hands holding him down in the lake and probably if it wasn't for Kaori he would be dead. He cracked a small smile knowing he was locked up, though he did hope he was fine since the scrap Monokumas were running around. But that is only a passing thought., the jail would hold fine.

Deku Inazuka  
Height: 5 ft 5  
Weight: 122 lbs  
Chest: 29 in  
D.O.B: February 10th  
Blood Type: A  
Likes: Shiny Things  
Dislikes: Reading  
Notes: Ultimate Thief  
Fun Fact: The Ultimate Thief was never named during his entire crime spree and only did people know his true identity when he revealed himself to the Ultimate City.

Oh yes the thief of the group, he was one of them he really didn't see eye to eye with too. However except for that little stunt with the necklace for Tokaku he has been keeping out of trouble and not stolen anything… that he was aware of. Also how dare Deku not like reading, he clearly doesn't know the majesty of books.

Noboru Takahashi  
Height: 5 ft 7  
Weight: 134 lbs  
Chest: 32 in  
D.O.B: March 20th  
Blood Type: AB  
Likes: Jingle Bells  
Dislikes: Bugs  
Notes: Ultimate Tightrope Walker  
Fun Fact: Noboru has trained his body to be able to walk the tightrope while holding bars 75% of his natural body weight.

Ah the tightrope walker that has made himself Kaori's little assistant. He was a good lad as far as he could tell. He was surprised at what a man of that height and weight could do, I guess making yourself an acrobat at a carnival swinging yourself around holding yourself did wonders for your body. Also jingle bells, he did like his bells doesn't he?

Shino Noriyuki  
Height: 5 ft 4  
Weight: 150 lbs  
Chest: 33 in  
D.O.B: February 29th  
Blood Type: ?  
Likes: Hot Chocolate  
Dislikes: Tea  
Notes: Ultimate ?  
Fun Fact: You tell me.

Yes his mysterious friend he has found within the citizens. He frowned seeing that even most of what he wrote was also unknown. It would seem whoever wrote this, even if it was past Kaze, he didn't know much about Shino either.

Orochi Sakamoto  
Height: 4 ft 11  
Weight: 94 lbs  
Chest: 25 in  
D.O.B: October 7th  
Blood Type: A  
Likes: Stuffed Animals  
Dislikes: Claw Machines  
Notes: Ultimate Game Designer  
Fun Fact: Whilst widely popular, he holds the current world record for most games made in a row that are banned in at least one country. Mostly Singapore.

Stuffed animals and claw machines, he wonders if those two had any connection to one another. For being an annoying and twisted little man he really hasn't caused too much in the name of trouble, well outside of annoying Haruna.

Satoshi Yugimoto  
Height: 5 ft 9  
Weight: 166 lbs  
Chest: 33 in  
D.O.B: August 9th  
Blood Type: AB  
Likes: Building Decks  
Dislikes: Starter Packs  
Notes: Ultimate Trading Card Collector  
Fun Fact: He has enough trading cards within his entire collection to fill a an entire two aisle stretch of a supermarket with just his card collection.

Yes the chance to be mayor Yugimoto, the local card collector. He was the odd one possibly the oddest one out of the bunch, which is saying something. Still Yuki has yet to really give him a reason why he was chosen over him….or well at all.

Kyojin Otoshidan  
Height: 5 ft  
Weight: 102 lbs  
Chest: 27 in  
D.O.B: October 30th  
Blood Type: B  
Likes: Dress Up  
Dislikes: Vegetables  
Notes: Ultimate Creature Actor  
Fun Fact: The children's movie "Dinosaur with a heart" has been labeled the scariest children's movie in the world, and credited with the most lawsuits to studios and theaters for traumatizing children.

Seeing this file really makes him think back to all the sweets he has seen that little man eat since his time awaking in the Ultimate City. However though he did seem like a good kid if not a tad on the needy side. Also he really needed to eat his vegetables, Kaze will suggest a dietary plan for him later.

Daichi Souma  
Height: 5 ft 10  
Weight: 155 lbs  
Chest 24 in  
D.O.B May 16th  
Blood Type: O  
Likes: Climaxes  
Dislikes: Terrible Pacing  
Notes: Ultimate Director  
Fun Fact: Daichi has acted in over 90% of his films, preferring to be a part of the art rather than a simple bystander.

Oh Diachi, Kaze feels the less said about him the better. He didn't know why but something really put him off from the Director. Kaze wasn't really sure why he was called the protagonist by Mr. Souma but he had a feeling whatever movie that's playing through his head Kain didn't want to be any apart of it.

Wataru Hisakawa  
Height: 5 ft 3  
Weight: 116 lbs  
Chest: 28 in  
D.O.B: November 14th  
Blood Type: B  
Likes: Triceratops  
Dislikes: Aircrafts  
Notes: Ultimate Paleontologist  
Fun Fact: Wataru has stated that deep within his archives is evidence that a second extinction will happen in the near future.

The hard of hearing paleontologist, he didn't really know much about Wataru other than him and Takara seem to be thick as thieves as they would say. Though interested in his disdain for aircraft the inquisitor briefly considers if this is how he lost his hearing, but that is assuming these documents were even accurate to begin with. Triceratops...fitting. Kaze for a brief moment does pause as he considers a simple 'what is my favorite dinosaur?' before realizing that he didn't know much about dinosaurs to begin with. A shrug and Kaze carries on deciding it isn't relevant.

With the guys done and now neatly stacked back up, he moved onto the fairer sex.

Tokaku Nishiyama  
Height: 5 ft 6  
Weight: 113 lbs  
Chest: 35 in  
D.O.B: August 10th  
Blood Type: AB  
Likes: Meditation  
Dislikes: Eels  
Notes: Ultimate Hypnotist  
Fun Fact: Considered to be the greatest Hypnotist in the world, however at the moment her cliclientele most consist of all woman settling with deep emotional trauma. (Mostly because of an abusive boyfriend or a bad break up.)

Meditation and eels, Kaze couldn't stop the smirk, he feels out of everyone he knows the least about Lady Nishiyama. Which was a shame, he would have to correct that later.

Haruna Aiki  
Height: 5 ft 3 in  
Weight: 126 lbs  
Chest: 37 in  
D.O.B: January 6th  
Blood Type: B  
Likes: Horror Games  
Dislikes: NSFW  
Notes: Ultimate Online Reviewer  
Fun Fact: The most watched reviewer in the last 3 years. Most of her audience consists of males between the ages of 14 to 41.

37 inches huh…. Moving on. Kaze looks over seeing that yet again another gamer fan. Though video games are childish he was surprised that her and the kid devil Orochi didn't get alone more often.

What does NSFW mean and he saw written next to it was the word "Heresy". Kaze will have to investigate what this "NSFW" means in detail later.

Yuki Hashimoto  
Height: 5 ft 5  
Weight: 121 lbs  
Chest: 33 in  
D.O.B: September 3rd  
Blood Type: O  
Likes: Origami  
Dislikes: Physical Tasks  
Notes: Ultimate Memorizer  
Fun Fact: Yuki has gone on record to state she can remember her own birth. No further details were obtained other than the comment "traumatizing."

Yuki a girl who been giving him mixed feelings since he had awoken. An ally or a foe. A public rival or a unseen helper? The thorn to his side or the wind to his back? He wasn't sure how he felt about her what he did know is that this seem to be a accurate report on her.

Tomomi Kamato  
Height: 5 ft 5  
Weight: 107 lbs  
Chest: 30 in  
D.O.B: May 12th  
Blood Type: A  
Likes: Tape Recorders  
Dislikes: Bad Page Layouts  
Notes: Ultimate Journalist  
Fun Fact: Tomomi won the selfie of the year reward when she snuck into the UN and had a selfie with all the World Leaders. #WorldPeace.

A smile tugged to the Inquisitors face seeing Tomomi, her can do attitude and her ability to seek out the truth were admirable traits of hers. He knows for a fact hers seems accurate since he has seen her get all puffy around the bad page layouts, and she really did seem to like her tape recorder.

Kiaria Ongaku  
Height: 5 ft 2  
Weight: 131 lbs  
Chest: 33 in  
D.O.B: February 14th  
Blood Type: B  
Likes: Romance Novels  
Dislikes: Rap Music  
Notes: Ultimate Violinist  
Fun Fact: She once entered a rap battle where she won without saying a single verse and only playing her violin. When asked why she did it, she was quoted on saying "I did it to prove a point."

Ah the disdain for the mere existence of this so call rap. More like a bastardization and the artistically banked up "musical" art style. Calling it that felt like a basphomy in of itself. Though she is one of the reasons he is dealing with one of his bigger headaches on the city he found her to be one of the easiest to speak to. A definite tie between her and Shino.

Kerria Than  
Height: 5 ft 4  
Weight: 110 lbs  
Chest: 31 in  
D.O.B: October 3rd  
Blood Type: AB  
Likes: Family  
Dislikes: The Color White  
Notes: Ultimate Puppeteer  
Fun Fact: Her puppets are deemed so real, that her audience often mistakes them for real people. Once, the police were called during a death scene because an audience member believed she killed one of her actors.

Kerria the puppeteer, someone he couldn't get a good read on. She was an odd one like why did she dislike the color white and of course most curiously is that her most like is family. Honestly he didn't expect that.

Kaoru Matsuhita  
Height: 4 ft 2  
Weight: 70 lbs  
Chest: 22 in  
D.O.B: April 1st  
Blood Type: AB  
Likes: Revenge  
Dislikes: Punk Rock  
Notes: Ultimate Perfumer  
Fun Fact: She has been credited on inventing a perfume with such an aroma that you could smell it through your ears.

Oh the prankster of course her likes would include revenge she is a 70 pounds of childlike spite and a playful nature mix into one horrible but cute little girl.

Takara Uoshi  
Height: 5 ft  
Weight: 94 lbs  
Chest: 33 in  
D.O.B: June 7th  
Blood Type: O  
Likes: Sweet Things  
Dislikes: Forgotten History  
Notes: Ultimate Museum Curator  
Fun Fact: Takara's own home has become legally classified as a museum.

Oh Wataru's other half and the other obsessive if not a bit ditzy lover of history. She was a bit interesting since she was knowledgeable in certain things, while oblivious to most social interaction and a bit dimwitted in basic trivia her true genius came out in history itself and it shows.

Kaori Moriya  
Height: 5 ft 8  
Weight: 178 lbs  
Chest: 30 in  
D.O.B: July 19th  
Blood Type: B  
Likes: The Night Sky  
Dislikes: Thunderstorms  
Notes: Ultimate Bodyguard  
Fun Fact: It is stated Kaori once protected a whole village of potential targets from a raid by nearby privateers. When the arresting coast guard arrived, they simply found a note atop dozens of unconscious bodies with her business card on it and the words "whatever it takes."

Thunderstorms..there was something human about learning she disliked thunderstorms, it was a cute thing about her. However there was a small taste of salt in his mouth thinking how she is now the face of protection in this city. They weren't even in this city for a week and now they were already replacing him, distrusting him for what? Nothing in his… calm down Kaze… calm down.

Tsukasa Thailynn  
Height: 5 ft 9  
Weight: 116 lbs  
Chest: 35 in  
D.O.B: April 22nd  
Blood Type: A  
Likes: Shoujou Manga  
Dislikes: Curry  
Notes: Ultimate Dance Painter  
Fun Fact: Tsukasa once did an exhibitionist piece where she was naked and covered in body paint with a live audience, with the only requirement be that they were blindfolded. Once the audience was allowed to look, Tsukasa was fully clothed and the entire audience was coated in paint instead. "The Naked Truth" has been put at the top of a top modern art pieces of all time list of a popular website " "

Finally his "wife", he pauses looking at her seeing that she seems to also enjoy this fictional art form. Guess it shouldn't surprise him since she seems to have a love of painting and dance. two other things the inquisitor would also deem unimportant. Though a small dislike of curry, so she doesn't like spicy things… that cute.

Kaze let a sigh escape his lips as he slowly put the female stack in the file with the rest of the report cards. Groaning, he wondered what not only did that all mean but what was the importance of all of it? A lot of this such as many things as of late seem to be pointless and useless. What all he got out of these cards was now he somewhat knew his fellow citizens a bit more but that was useless to him. None of that could be used to help defeat despair or Monokuma and find a way to solve the mystery of the city and all that is happened here. So again more wasted time that he could have been using for sleep. Putting his file into his desk, he looked over to the clock on the wall, noticing it wasn't even moving made him realize that there was no proper way to keep time. "Dang it" escaped his lips…. he really wanted tea.

Getting up from his desk and cracking his back, he decided to leave his coat off but placed his hat back on his head before heading down to his kitchen. Kaze in passing took a moment to appreciate the house design as far as he is aware most houses in the Ultimate City all share a similar set up, though it does vary slightly and of course people can always ask for renovations which the Ultimate City was more then willing to help and pay for. A theme for the city was the seemingly endless bank account and a blank check the city received from Lord knows who. Of Course the Future Foundation helped fund this great project but even their usage of money that the City used seemed not only extreme but unlikely maybe money stopped having a point somewhere down the line during the tragedy and people just stopped caring about being paid and places just gave the Board of Talent whatever resource they deem necessary to complete the city. Though some rumors that Kaze has combed over and has heard in the underground is that certain interest groups like the great Togami Family might have a hand in this project. Others say that the supposed financial issues that Hope's Peak were having was because of their secret funding of this great monolith to the power of the ultimates. However all were interesting and hold up the same value as the next theory as in there was no evidence to support any of these claims leaving these rumors as they were, just rumors.

Besides the point taking in the houses interior which for the second floor, the one he was currently descending was his bedroom to the left of the stairs which connected to a bathroom which could only be reached through the main bedroom. To the opposite end of the bedroom was a empty room that stood to the right of the bedroom which could be converted into whatever the person requires which many converted into a guest bedroom however Kaze Kain has been making plans on turning that room into a small chapel. Something Kaze both respected and was annoyed by was the city's stance on the church deciding to not have any of the faith temples built in the city of any faith trying to come off as neutral to anything that was outside the purview of the will of ultimates. Commendable as it was damnable in his eyes. Now finally reaching the first floor which to the immediate right of the stairs would be the door leading to the basement which held most of the cleaning supplies and miscellaneous items that a house needed like heating and plumbing though the basement also held something regrettable in Kaze's case which will remain unspoken for his souls sake. Then right in front of the stairs was of course the door leading to the front yard. To the right of the house was the living room which took up most of the first floor, though the living room also lead to his office. To the left lead to the dining room and to the kitchen along with a secondary restroom at least for Kaze's case there was no means to get to the back yard though he has noticed that wasn't a constant in fact the only was the genders were different were he noticed at least in this neighborhood is that the girls all had backdoors while the guys didn't. No clue or even had a thought to hazard a guess why it was set up this way it just was.

Speaking of which Kain finally entered his kitchen and with a a quick retrieval of his favorite blend of coffee, which of course is just black plain coffee… if you couldn't hazard a guess.

He knew he should be with morpheus in the lands of dreams, however his mind was too busy trying to figure out what to do with the reveal of the motive. "What could Monokuma possibly be planning on doing? I doubt that motive is even real… the board betraying us, it sounds ridiculous and yet everyone is falling for it. I wasn't aware everyone here was as gullible to believe the first thing out of a murderous bear and his insane despair loving cublings produced as "Evidence" and now everything thinks I'm the villain…"

Thinking of Yuki and Takeshi he began to frown more "Some not even trusting me or even trying to murder me..." His thoughts quickly turn to the bodyguard "They are even trying to replace me. To act like I have contributed nothing and like I don't exist."

The beep notified the Inquisitor his beverage was ready. He retrieved the cup, taking a sip of the bitter ambrosia is exactly what he needed right now to calm his nerves. "What do they know what is good for..."

"So this is what you do when you're alone?"

The coffee was sent flying from his hands to the floor shattering as the inquisitor damn near leaped to the ceiling as the voice behind him startled him. He was pressinglo against the counter holding his hand to his rapidly beating heart as he tried to calm himself. His mind racing with whatever prayers he could think of until it become one giant mess of words.

"You just stand around in your house and talk to yourself like you're having an in depth conversation, that's what you do… wow you're weird." Sitting on his coffee table is none other than Monokuma himself, staring at the inquisitor with such a confused stare "I mean when I talk to myself it's adorable and marketable but when you do it, it really hammers in the fact you really don't have any friends."

Kaze looks over a bit "I have friends you insufferable creature, the survivors are my friends."

"Oh you think how you've been treating people and your attitude is how you get friends, I know you were an "I learn from church kid" but sheesh don't they teach you love thy neighbor there not keep everyone out of hugging distance but in beating distance." The annoying bear prattled on about that and honestly kaze had no idea what he was talking about, he had lots of friends. Though he won't give names cause he won't give the bear that satisfaction… yeah.

"Anyway, besides the point, why are you here Monokuma?" He snarls at the despair loving bear.

"What? I always sneak around your house and touch your stuff when your sleep, usually you're passed out by now so I guess neither of us are on the right schedule right now" With a shrug he goes and leaps from the table doing a backflip for style before landing on the counter.

"That doesn't answer my… wait you do what when I'm asleep?" Kaze puts his accusing hand down for a second.

However the mayor continued on his way pretending not to hear Kaze. "Oh is this coffee? It better be pumpkin spice le la Salmon or else I'll go murder a puppy." Before Kaze can say anything the stuffed plushie took the coffee cup and downed the whole content into his awaiting maw. "Ah that really hit the..." a sudden flash came in his eye, making the bear pause and then bend over turning a sickly green and then vomits the coffee onto the floor making Kaze take a step back and mutter a curse. "Was that pure black coffee… what type of hope loving subhuman are you. No one likes black coffee and anyone who says they do is a liar!"

"I hate you so much." The ultimate guardian of the city mutters staring at the mess and looking back up at the bear.

"I am sure your hate for me can only be rivaled by my hate for puppies, black coffee and that feeling you get when you're chewing on aluminum" He looks up at the questioning gaze of the inquisitor. "Oh right why I am here. Honestly I came here to do you a favor and that is to tell you that the motive I gave you guys is a hundred percent true, whether you choose to believe me or not I don't think that it matters."

"Which I don't." Kain clicked out staring at him with growing contempt.

"However besides the point I think it will be better for you if you treat the motive as if it is fact cause fun fact the rest are." Before Kaze could retott as he would Monokuma held up his hand. "Wait… do you hear that?"

Kain stops and he looks around training his ears for any disturbances however none could be heard. "No I..."

"There's someone at the door." The despairing mayor spoke before he vanishes into nothing. Kaze raised an eyebrow at that in a questioning look, before he turned to the door leading to the outside.

'Knock, Knock'

The door opened as the now steady breath lord inquisitor stares down at the uninvited guest, it seem he was getting a few of them these past few nights. As the breathing of Kain calmed his guest, a one Tomomi's breath was quickening and she had a recent sweat pouring down her face staring up at Kain. "Kaze!"

"Tomomi, what are you doing up at this time of night? I haven't seen you in a bit, where have you been?" The Inquisitor crosses his arms staring at the young journalist.

"That doesn't matter, well actually it does matter but not right now… I mean yes it does right now. I just need you to come to my house right now." The young investigator said to the inquisting one.

A fresh flush comes to Kaze Kain's face staring down at her. "Miss. Kamato it is hardly the appropriate time for this." looking up to the moon lit sky judging the moons point in the sky "It's past midnight!"

Tomomi blushes a bit biting her pen a bit at the statement before giving him a shove and says "Not like that Kaze, come to my house in 5 minutes I am getting a couple other people, a secret meeting is about to happen!" With that Tomomi took off heading in the direction of Yuki's house.

"Tomomi wait what about… nevermind" half a mind to ignore her request, however he had a feeling this was important. "Damn it." With a heavy sigh he slowly turn and after closing his door securely he goes and heads upstairs to go and get his coat. After he finally went into his room he took a moment to look over his room, noticing Monokuma yet again in his house but this time on his bed.

"Oh hey Kain" The bear said nonchalantly as he was reading one of Kaze's book, well the book was upside down and the bear seem more interested in the limited pictures in it. "Not sure who this Dante is but I like the cut of his jib. He sure passes out a lot though."

With a disgusted scoff he decides to not indulge the despair worshipper in his antics and turns. "Just see yourself out before I return."

"Can do, but also before you go I noticed you've been collecting some random objects around the city." Kaze gave the bear his confused look as the black and white demon leapt off the bed to a collection stand that Kaze had in his house. "The bobbleheads collection. I used to be a big collector in my time and I had these bobble heads, it seems you have four already. The Moral Compass, the Nurse, the Artist and the Hopeful, they are pretty neat Kaze." Kaze looked at his small collection that true he has found. "Hey if you can collect all the hidden bobbleheads I will give you a very special scene from the kuma sutra"

Then Monokuma leaps up and faces you the readers. "Hey readers if you wanna see Kaze Kain in the Kuma sutra with all your characters just say the word and I will do it!"

Kaze leaning over the bear looking at nothing "Who… who are you talking too?"

"Don't worry just a breaking of the wall that is placed fourth, don't worry about it." He answers back sweating, but Kaze gave a shrug and he turns and he walks off.

"Whatever" Kain says as Monokuma smirked a bit rubbing his paws together. "I am going to get so many views and reviews." Monokuma says evilly before vanishing.

Before leaving the Inquisitor since this was a meeting he decided to bring the detached head of the Monosterkuma, which he ultimately went back for, thinking the creatures might cannibalize it or take it back, he was going to return it tomorrow anyway. It was about time he talked to the citizens about the terrors that lay within the ruins of the Ultimate City. He slowly took a step out into the dark. Beating himself up for a second, he should have warned Tomomi about the creatures however he was just too annoyed to do so. "I hope she's ok" if something happened to Tomomi that he could have prevented, could he ever forgive himself?

Finally reaching the house where Tomomi lived he soon gave a soft knock on the door. After a moment goes by not hearing a single movement from inside before the door swung open and nearly smacked him in the face.

"Kaze!" A smiling Tomomi greeted him "Come in the others are here" she turned and walked back in leaving the door wide open. It was odd to know she trusted him and quite a few people actually. Kaze's glare turned towards the darkness of the city wondering where the scrap Monokuma's were, the ones that attacked Kaze. Were they only coming out because he went into the hospital or…

His very perceptive eyes catches movement in the outskirts of the town. Looking from behind the building of the police station was a demented Monokuma head staring down at Kaze. A bit shocked seeing that there made him hesitate, his heart went out to Takeshi for a moment before realizing the things weren't entering the police station. He wondered how that worked but decided to investigate it later and to make sure Takeshi is fine in the morning. It was nothing worth risking his own skin to make sure someone who probably was fine was ok to begin with. Not to mention he still tasted the bitter feeling of almost being drowned by the man that might be clouding his judgement.

With a passing glance he walks into the house of the young journalist and the smell of cookies fills the air. It was a pleasant feeling. Kaze had a weird lonesome feeling walking into this house, the smell of a home cooked treat and the sound of chatter from the other room and giggling. "Odd" was all the inquisitor inquired about this feeling before entering the living room.

The living room was a quaint little place with pictures surrounding the walls, most likely pictures she took during her investigations and for her journalism career. He takes a moment to appreciate the work she must have put into these pictures. Seeing many historical monuments and some of great parades, activist movements and of world leaders' speeches. His vision then turned towards the group of people. Surrounding the fireplace that everyone's house had in there living was a group. Sitting upon the first couch to the far left was Kaori who sat in the middle, to her left sat Noboru and to her right was Shino, who the latter gave a wave to Kaze and the former acknowledged his existence with a nod. On the other couch laying down alone was Daichi the Director who was napping against the couch with a blanket over him. On one of the arm chairs alone sipping out of a coffee cup mumbling about all the ingredients in that coffee just by taste was Yuki. Finally sitting together in a rather bigger than normal chair was Takara with Wataru next to her. There were two absent chairs next to one another in the center. Tomomi was nowhere to be found so he asked the basics.

Yuki not turning around to face him says "firm and strong foot placements, a silent and cold entrance without the basic hello… Kaze Kain is here." Which to those who have not noticed him yet turned to face him, even Daichi seems to awake from his small nap a bit to greet the Lord Inquisitor.

"I see she invited all of you. And speaking of our host where is she?" Kaze slowly took his own seat on an arm chair leaning into the firm comforting cushion of the chair.

"You act like her inviting us is surprising." Yuki says turning to face him "I believe it makes sense we have all shown a form of leadership of some sort of prominence in the city."

"Yeah everyone here but Takeshi, but of course that side character has turned into a rival or even the antagonist with his most recent burst of rage." The director chimed in sleepily as he finally sits up.

Taking a sip of his own beverage, hot chocolate, Shino says with a look over to Kaze "I will admit I was unaware she thought so highly of me, she really shouldn't" He then shrugs and says "It would be better and easier if I just assume she only invited me because of my closeness to Kaze."

Kaze frowns at Shino's confession however Daichi who had a different type of frown says. "I doubt that."

Takara smiles and says "I am glad she invited us and she's even baking us cookies oh oh oh oh Kaze she's in the kitchen making us cookies… you know to answer your first question."

"We've been spending most of our time studying and looking for clues of the Lost City of Talent hence why I think we were called." Wataru said after his excitable friend was finished talking. Wataru looks over and says "We have discovered some interesting things. Like the subways are walled off, so there's no way to use them as a means to get past the rubble and blocked off paths in the city."

She nods quickly and adds "alsothebombthatisonetherestruantisofthesamemodelthattheAmericansusedonHiro..." A hand places on her mouth.

"Takara please slowly." Wataru added before removing his hand.

Takara nodded her head before continuing "I learned that the bomb at the restaurant is the same type used by the Americans during world war 2 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki" Of course that got many people's attention some people talked about if the American's did this. Holding up her hands blushing "no no the wording on the side of the bomb is clearly Japanese and there was a sticker of a Monokuma, no i think Monokuma was just trying to be ironic."

"Is it active?" Appearing from the doorway with a plate full of cookies was none other then Tomomi finally joining the meeting she called for. She removed her apron after setting the sweet treats down. "Hear I made everyone some Dango dig in, warning I am the Ultimate Journalist not the Ultimate Baker."

Everyone took their sweets and mumble their thanks.

Noboru spoke up "Me and Kaori went up there to check it out actually back in day one."

Tomomi looks over and says "And?" As she took her seat next to Kaze's.

"Sadly after a thorough investigation and removing a couple of the panels the machine I can safely say that it is still active." Everyone's eyes widen a bit at the reveal of this fact.

Noboru nods and says "Gets weirder, Kaori say what you told me."

The supposed mayor nods a bit and she looks over and says "It's odd the fact it was put on top of the roof makes me question how it got there. If it was dropped from a plane as traditionally used there wouldn't be a restaurant it would have been a crater."

"Yes that actually makes sense." The journalist adds but the bodyguard continues.

"It makes me think that it was placed there and the only reason why it hasn't gone off is because someone has yet to set it off." Now dropping that literal bomb about said bomb on them. "So I took the liberty of removing any ways to get to the bomb however I feel like the bomb needs a detonator so i doubt it matters." She shrugs though it is clear the idea that it does bother her that she can't let everyone be hundred percent safe.

Noboru and Shino give her a pat on the shoulders "Hey don't worry i am sure it is just there to scare us and hey I know under your watch no one will be getting hurt" Noboru smiled at her which she returned.

"Though we should continue our conversation, I think we still have a bit more to discuss" Yuki interrupts the small moment of friends in her cold neutral manner. Before Noboru or Tomomi could scold her for her harsh attitude Kaori held up her hand to stop them before giving her consent and nodding to the Memorizer. Which lead to Yuki turning to Daichi "You are on the verge of sleep however I know you have yet to tell us in full about the kubs base, explain now."

Daichi smiles weakly at her and says "How about a pretty please?"

Yuki blinks and says tilting her head "The level of attractiveness of my request is neither relevant or possible"

With a loud laugh he gets up downing his coffee to wake him up and says "Mmm aren't you fun, not sure what you are, side, supporting, love interest. Curious where you fall in the casting." After receiving only a blank stare of Yuki making him frown he says. "As I told the protagonist that I was blindfolded most of the time, and I was put in what felt like a vehicle of some sort" he recounts as he looks around and says "As they drag the protagonist's side kick Daichi Souma through the city only able to see darkness of the blindfold hid the scared sidekick, hoping no… begging for his hero and closest friend the Inquisitor to come to his aid. But alas help will not come as the young hero is brought to a classroom with such odd coloring everywhere as if paint was thrown about without a care in the world. Oh sweetest Kain, I think of thou in the time of need. To have even a drop of courage that you barely muster in your vast sea of bravery that you call your temple of a body" Dramatically standing and moving his arms showing how the scene went. "The first move was the big strong brute of Gruff that took me to his chambers and I had to clean his gym slash bedroom. Oh the odor, the horror, the unsightly posters on his walls. Oh the humanity but the hero Mr. Souma continued on his quest to do as the kubs demand to spare his soul from whatever punishment he would receive."

"Why are you talking like that?" Takara says however Daichi put a finger to her mouth.

"Shh no talking while the movie is playing, that is just rude." Daichi then turns dramatically to everyone "Oh the young sidekick now slowly becoming the hero, Daichi scales the amount of filth in the rooms. I was brought to a realm of stuffed bears, toys, Lego Pieces, crayons and the air was thick with pee and candy. As I had to PICK. MONOBABE'S. ROOM. UP! It was awful especially since she kept throwing her toys out. Maddening simply maddening. the hero could feel his will breaking under thes actions of pure insanity."

"You didn't find anything of value did you?" Tomomi concluded, to which Daichi says falling to his knees.

"Then came worst of all, it was Monomaxime's room… the horror, the disgust, if you saw what the hero saw you would wonder how he left still sane. It would bump the rating of this story from T to M, and it is only T because the writers are too lazy to change it! Only by following the protagonist's example did he fight forward but it was really really really gross and..."

Knock knock knock

Daichi turns to the door, his trance was gone as Kaze noticed that the whole time he was telling that story his eyes were diluted but that knock on the front door made them return to normal and he looked around as if he just remembered where he was. Diachi goes and takes his seat coughing a bit and says. "Yes nothing really was gained in my time with the kubs..."

Tomomi nods a bit to Daichi "Either way, I will go get that door, I will be right back." She got up and went out of the living room. Kaze slowly stood up and turned to watch her leave before he added "I'll go with her to make sure she is safe."

"What are you doing up this late?" Tomomi says to whoever was at the door as Kaze walked into the view seeing who was at the door.

Standing there with her arms crossed was the hypnotist Tokaku, who stares down at the journalist with a small leer, something so uncharacteristic of the usually rather enamored with her hypnotist.

"I could be asking you the same question?" Her eyes turn up as Kaze comes into view. "Ah yes the inquisitor and if I saw correctly at least Yuki, Takara, Wataru and a few others were brought into your house. What you having a party?"

Tomomi opens her mouth "Oh umm yes we are..." she sounded nervous, why Kaze wonders.

"No we are not having a party we are having a meeting." The inquisitor corrects as Tomomi stares at him with wide eyes "What?"

Tokaku says pointing at her "I knew it, all this sneaking around and now what half of the city isn't even worth talking to? You're just going to hide in your house and talk about things in private is that it?" Tomomi holds her hands up and says

"No no it is not like that Tokaku we just..." She tried to reason but Tokaku pushes in.

"Well I am going to be apart of this, someone's got to be trusted to tell the rest of the citizens about whatever you lot are talking..." However the inquisitor stood in front of her like a big wall of red leather and holy pride. "Kaze… move."

Which the man of hope says firmly to her "It's not polite to barge into someone's house uninvited."

"It's not fair though." Tokaku says trying to move as Kaze held his arm in front of her.

"That is Irrelevant." He answers her back with as both of them give each other a firm glare to one another.

"No it is fine Kaze you can let her by" Tomomi mumbles as Kaze and Tokaku turn to her however as they faced one another again Kaze relented and dropped his arm as she leers at both of them heading into the room as both watch her take a seat next to Daichi on the couch.

"Kaze why did you tell her the truth?" Tomomi turn to him.

"Cause it was the truth, I thought you were big on the truth and how everyone needs to know it?" Now he was definitely confused isn't she big into all that to keep people informed.

"But now she thinks we were excluding her… and it hurt her feelings I just..." sighing and says "nevermind we should just head back to the group" Kaze was content with that however he had a really odd urge to apologize to Tomomi to make sure she was ok, but he was in the right so he pushed that feeling away and entered back into the scene to see Shino offer his Dango to Tokaku who actually smiled and thanked him for as they returned to their spots and after everyone settled back down, Tokaku took a second to stare at everyone here most likely figuring out why they were called over her and all the others. "I can believe people like Yuki and Kaze would be cold enough to not keep everyone involved but really you too Moriya?" Tokaku said seeming a little hurt seeing the bodyguard here.

She says "It has nothing about keeping people informed I was asked and I came that is all." She responds shrugging.

Though a bit annoyed at Tokaku's opinion of him., Kaze retorted "I'm not cold."

"Please Yuki is the one who locked up Takeshi with all those monsters roaming around and Kaze knew about them and has yet to even bring it up. She said firmly crossing her arms glaring at them."

Yuki pauses as if her mind was trying to locate something "Monsters?"

Noboru says turning over "Wait what do you mean there are monsters at night?"

Tomomi nods a bit and says "Oh so you guys know about them too, I was going to bring them up for the meeting." She admits turning over to them.

Wataru and Takara exchange glances "We've been looking through the entirety of this city..." Wataru started as Takara added "Even in the subway and in the sewers!" As Takara finished her 2 cents Wataru added "...and we have found no hints of monsters or even seen them."

That was a perfect segway as Kaze turned and slowly removed his satchel that he'd been hiding the head in "Actually if you all don't mind I will like to start this conversation. I was going to tell you guys earlier if it wasn't for the fact that evil little girl stole it from me and also the fact I was nearly drowned." Seeing no one making a comment he then drops the removed head of that junk monokuma onto the table, hearing a few horrified gasps coming from Takara, Wataru, Tokaku and Noboru. Even Tomomi seems disturbed by the presence of this things. However people like Shino, Yuki and Daichi stare at the head with a odd mix of interest and examination. Yet Kaori stares at the thing with nothing but hate.

"If those things are running around I should go and retrieve Takeshi from..." Moriya stated but it was Tokaku who stopped her.

"No don't it is too dangerous now, he should be fine until morning don't worry, please we can't have you getting hurt for us." Tokaku pleads and when she tries to push the matter Tokaku adds "Seriously just… it'll be fine and..."

"The junk kuma's I noticed weren't trying to get into the police station,I think he is fine." Kaze spoke up as people turned to him. "Besides the kubs made it clear the only way we are dying in this city is by each other so he should be fine." The mayor sighs and she sits back as everyone seems to be comfortable finishing their meals. "Me and Tsukasa went investigating and ran into one of them in the hospital, which lead to me having to fight it off and eventually killing it. It seemed to be guarding something but i had to leave when I was fighting it, and by the time it was dead me and Tsukasa were outside and there were nearly a dozen more waiting outside, so I fled." As he looked over seeing everyone was contemplating what he said. "However I have not seen them since last night and only seen them at night so I don't think they come out during the day."

Yuki nods a bit and she says "The evidence is concrete enough to have that as a safe guess however I will investigate this matter myself."

"Don't put yourself in harms way while doing that," Kaori sighs and she looks over however it was then that Tomomi spoke.

She took a deep breath and said "Kaze mentioned that he had a run in with the junk monokuma at the hospital" she soon took out her own bag and says "I also investigated the hospital myself. I followed Monolisa and I noticed her entering the hospital which eventually lead me to discover there was a secret door hidden behind the cabinets. A room that Monoking revealed and entered, then followed him in secret."

"You followed a Monokub?" Moriya says with deep concern radiating off her voice.

Nodding quickly she says "Yes I did I had to know what the big fuss was all about since before entering the room King had a conversation with his twisted father Monokuma who had a very odd talk. But that's not important when I entered the room it was full of computers, wires, vials, full of some chemical and papers, a lot of files as well. But most of them were all hit with a black bar code hiding of what most said." A minor flash back to Tomomi hiding behind a file cabinet watching Monoking slide a paper into the machine. "I noted Monoking at a console he took one of the blacked out papers and put them in a machine and boom it removed all the lines of black bars."

"You mean it removed the censorship?" Kaze turns to her and she nods to him excited.

"The room I went into I think used to belong to whoever this Censor is and when King left I snatched it and ran off… I was there for hours hidIng in my corner that's why I was gone most of the day..." then after a brief pause she says "wow i went missing and no one looked for me thanks guys."

Her eyes widen and leaping to her feet, Kaori grabs her shoulders and says quickly "I am so sorry Tomomi it will never happen again if you went missing I do anything and everything in my power to make sure you're..."

With a chuckle and then a giggle it silences her as Tomomi was laughing a bit holding her sides and leaning into her hugging her "I'm only kidding seriously take a joke I would never blame any of you." She looks over and says "However I think it's getting quite late I think we should all call it a night."

Daichi smiles a bit and stretches "Finally."

Tomomi turns to Kaze and says "Do you mind if you stay here for a small bit Mr. Kain I like to ask some questions?" She ask him biting her lips and looked up at him, though she did seem uncomfortable about something as she looks up at him with some puppy dog eyes. Kaze without any real persuading nodded his head, accepting her request. She had given him no quarrel nor reason to distrust her so far so why wouldn't he?

Tomomi let out a sigh of relief, as she soon brought out a notebook and pencil, beginning to write some stuff down. "Force of habit." She said as she knew she looked like she was about to give an interview "To start…"

Kaze held up his hand, and to use common slang, he felt himself get a bit… triggered at her mannerisms right there. She was likely just curious, and had some legitimate points to make, but something about that resided within him. Tomomi stopped in her tracks and looked up at him, her head tilting as she looked at him.

And then Kaze remembered what it was… and he felt his eyes darken "Ah yes…. Are you sure you want to "reach me for comment? I know I am unreliable." She felt her smile dissipate completely off her face, her hat tilting slightly covering one of her eyes as Kaze glared at her "Your article said I wasn't there. That I wasn't "available" to defend my own city! That people died on my watch!" kaze felt his anger boil over, every single piece of crap he has taken from everyone the past few days visibly making his face red unleashing on Tomomi "Look I know you want to help but you want to damn the city in the process?! Damn the ONE GOOD STRAND OF HOPE WE HAVE LEFT?! And make ME the centerpiece in your slander?! Then have the gall to want to ask me more questions after dragging my name through the mud?!" At this point the others were starting to stare, Kaori, Noboru, Shino. Tokaku, all stopping part way and observing the argument shaking their heads at Kaze as Tomomi stared up at him and before Kaze could calm down he saw her tearing up, her eyes beginning to drip clear blue droplets as she grabbed her doorframe "Tomomi… I"

"Nevermind." She said, her vice shaky as her body trembled "Nevermind… just go home."

Kaze backed up, holding his hands up defensively "I'm.. I didn't…"

Tomomi looked down at the floor and frowned "Just leave me alone for now ok?" And then she closed the door on him, locking him out of her house as he just stood there, staring at her door in stunned silence. Why? Why did he just do that? It was so unnecessary and violent… was he really that unhinged? Was his situation really that bad? He ignored the hard glares of everyone around as he quickly went back to his home and slammed the door shut. As he climbed up the stairs and laid in his bed, he may have realized she was the closest thing to an ally he had, and he just threw it away, for what? An angry outburst that he instantly hated himself for.

Congratulations Kaze, this is why you have no friends.

xxx

The night was gone, the morning had come. Entering their fourth day in the Ultimate city now since the re-awakening. It was hard to believe things came by so fast and yet it felt like an eternity, these past 96 hours feeling like both a crawling slog and a series of fast paced boxing shots to the gut that always seemed to hit Kaze harder and harder. The Inquisitor rolled out of bed, his knees hitting the hard oak floor as he groaned smacking his fist against the nightstand with an annoyed groan, his body just naturally sore from the beatings of the past few days. His legs felt like paste, his head felt like someone smacked him with the broadside of a steel chair, his arms felt like some kind of discount Jello that a supermarket would pass off for 10 cents less…. Mello. Irregardless, after the meeting last night he felt like he still had that duty to go out and ensure the safety and well being of every citizen there, and that included his own attacker.

He exited his house, waving some cordial hellos to some of the more cheerful residents like Takara, Kiaria, and Daichi, who then attempted to scurry over before Kaze raised up a hand signaling he was busy, making the director pout. Kaze would be joining them at breakfast anyway, he just simply wanted to do this first. Plus in the more personal side, he figured Takeshi hadn't been interrogated yet and wanted to be the one to do it himself, he had to know if the cop knew anything, if his attack was just a burst of untempered rage, or was there an ulterior motive nobody could know about. Needless to say he did have to have a chat with the police officer.

As he approached the police station Kaze felt a strange sense of…. Not dread but anxiety. Perhaps it was what was said last night finally taking root inside of him, but also just a sensation that something bad was coming.. like really bad. He tried to brush it off but it was just a gut instinct he always had, he could feel when things were going badly and things were definitely going badly. Were they not in as much control as they assumed they were? For some reason he just had that thought go over and over as his hand touched the doorknob to the police station… but he was just being sadly, nothing bad was going to happen. The worst had already come of course. He steeled himself and opened the door…

….. and found that all of his doubt and horror was coming true.

He found the Ultimate Police Officer sitting there on the cold floor of the jail cell, his back firmly against the wall as his hat fell off his head, his arm twitching as blood ran down the side of it, warm pink blood that dripped onto the floor. Kaze felt himself visibly shake as he looked up and felt his eyes go dark as he saw the man who was his rival and just a day ago violently attacking him there in such a state. "TAKESHI!"

….

And then the cop looked over, his teeth firmly clenched down on his right index finger as he snapped his head back, removing a very long and grizzly hangnail from the side of his hand before spitting it out "Hah! Been trying to get rid of that bastard for the past hour!" he then looks up with a steely glare "And what the fuck are you yellin about boy scout?"

Kaze marched over to the cell door and glared a hole into Takeshi "That is one of the most unruly and disgusting things I have ever seen, there is blood going down your arm!"

Takeshi shrugs "Hey sometimes when you bite hangnails, they bleed. And I can't exactly go get myself a pair of tweezers now can I?" Kaze noticed that he didn't get up, just sitting against the wall away from the bars, which was a good idea, since neither of them could be trusted right now to not slam the other one into the hard metal wall that separated them. "So what brought the local hero to menace's little den?"

Kaze felt his arms cross as he stared down at the fallen officer of the law "You act as though this is unjustified. You landed yourself in here by behaving like a lunatic."

Takeshi chuckles like Kaze just made a wisecrack "You think what happened to you was unfair? Nah, do I regret hurtin you, kinda. But not for you, for myself for letting it get to me, for everyone else for seeing me, and for lettin those little bastards break me even if it was just for a few minutes. I still don't trust you as far as I could throw you, but stranglin you wouldn't stop that doubt, it would just make it go away until they find someone new to go after, cept this time both of us would be dead."

In a way Kaze could understand what Takeshi was trying to say, but on the other hand. "You attempted to kill me in cold blood without even getting your facts straight first, you are a truly sad man Takeshi, and I will never forgive you for that."

Takeshi growled at him and he felt his anger come back "I don't need forgiveness or pity, I just need answers like everyone else here. So you can take your answers and shove em up your fuckhole you goody two-shoes top-hat wearing motherfucker! Who even wears a top hat anymore, it doesn't make you look cool it makes you look like someone who thinks it looks cool while everyone laughs behind his back."

Kaze felt his cheeks swell in a bright right aura of anger as he lunged at the bars "You will leave out the royal clothes of the Inquisitor you cretin! Just because all of your accomplishments can't match up to mine doesn't give you the right to throw slander!"

And then Takeshi slammed his own hand against the prison bench he called a bench and stood up "And just because you had everything handed to you and you play dress up doesn't mean you can pretend to know anything about me asshole!" The two men glared holes into each other and in his own angry way, Kaze could tell it was genuine. It was just the ill judgement of a dim berserker in his eyes, no further motive, just attempting to take judgement into his own hands. He dusted off his suit and then pushed himself back away from the grime covered bars, he would be sure to mention to Kaori that this entire city should be cleaned if they were to live here for a while.

Kaze then backed up and sat on the desk, his head descending into his hands as exhaustion was still setting in even after a night's "rest." His dreams were haunted by nightmares, his sleep muddled by the constant dread and agony his body was going through. He then put his hands down firmly on the desk to make an audible slam and he demanded "Where is my weapon?"

Takeshi just looked over with an angry glare and an "Excuse me" that escaped from his venom soaked lips.

Kaze tapped his finger against the desk impatiently "You know which one, the one you confiscated, where… is… it?"

Takeshi simply moved his head to the side in a slight nod towards the wall, where Kaze's eyes turned to see an "evidence room", although even from the entrance he could see that there was a safe imprinted on the wall, and if he knew Takeshi well enough, he knew it would be in there just to spite him and not give him an easy time. "How do I open it?"

Takeshi replied simply "A key."

Kaze retorted with "And where is this key?"

Takeshi of course was making sure to be as difficult as possible for him, even pausing for a few seconds to rub his bloody arm on the concrete wall to add suspense before saying "I hid it somewhere… and I ain't telling you." Well, so much for trying to discover things at night again, guess they would just have to waste those precious hours actually sleeping. Kaze waved his hand, dismissing Takeshi and wanting to be done with him. Takeshi just let himself slink back down the wall boredly as the Inquisitor left, leaving him all by his lonesome once again.

xxx

After a small walk, Kaze found himself entering the restaurant at around 10 a.m, allowing some time for him to patrol before entering and some more time to patrol after. That was mostly what his daily schedule was after all. Immediately upon entering however, he noticed that Kerria had placed herself upon the bar, her arms crossed in a very dignified and snooty manner as she placed her legs on it being rather rude to the people sitting at the bar, perhaps her way of demanding attention, which worked, as it forced Kyojin, Orochi, and Haruna to stand up and pay attention to her. "Oh it is missing, the one piece of fine china in this whole establishment is missing! How will I ever sustain myself now?"

Kyojin seemed to let out a small bark like a dog, letting it known he was perturbed before asking "What?"

Kerria put her hand to her forehead and leaned back dramatically like she had the vapors and was about to faint "Oh it was ornamental plate with the decoration of a doily with a fine ceramic overtone… I used it every morning to eat my basil, swiss cheese, and freshly sliced ham omelette, and now it is gone. Gone to the whims of fate." As she opened her eyes however she realized nobody was there, they all left simply dismissing her and went to eat somewhere else, making her huff in annoyance. Kaze walked by her but on his way to his spot he sighs and stops, looking over to the gothic dressed puppeteer "A plate has been missing you say?"

Kerria just seemed elated that someone was listening to her plight as she continued her tale of woe "Ah yes, every day I would treasure the fine detail that went into making that sophisticated piece of dining ware, it was one of my few joys in this forsaken city.. and someone absconded with it!"

Kaze stroked his chin as he felt his glare look over to the ultimate thief in the corner of the room eating alone "So someone has been making off with expensive items… interesting. Before tomorrow's breakfast, I will ensure that your piece of china is returned."

Kerria let out an elated gasp as she then extended her hand to him, removing her gloves to show her delicate paler skin to him. "Go ahead, you may."

Kaze looked down at her hand, up at her, back to her hand, then back to her… and nope still confused. "Um, i may what exactly?"

She scoffed a bit "I thought that you were to be a gentleman, you may kiss the back of my hand like a sir would to address a madam."

Kaze felt himself feel dull, has he really forgotten the art of chivalry that quickly "Oh my mistake Lady Than." He addressed her, the medieval dialect that came out of his mouth never ceasing to amaze those around him as he planted his lips on the back of her hand for a small moment, but when that surely pricked up the ears of a certain dance painter looking the other way munching on her fat free Facon with a frown. She didn't know why but she thinks she was going to kick Kerria's butt tomorrow. Kerria smiled an intoxicating smile and returned her hand, putting the glove back on it before returning to just staring at the food in the back, not going for any of it just staring in dismay that she couldn't enjoy it on proper dining ware.

As Kaze gathered his breakfast rations of eggs, ham, and a bagel he looked around for a proper table to sit at only to find the social circles had formed. Tomomi, Noboru, Kaori, and Yuki, whom had basically become the prime city council, were now sharing a table. Satoshi and Kyojin seemed to find a natural home with Kaoru and Haruna, who was just happy to be sitting away from Orochi only to be grilled by two more nerds and a spritzoholic. Speaking of the little game, he was attempting to sit with Deku who in no polite terms told him to buzz off, which of course he didn't and sat down anyway. As Kaze had no desire to eat with either of them, he passed that table by. Tsukasa was with her friends Tokaku and Kiaria, with Daichi squeezing himself in there not because he enjoyed their company but simply to grill Tsukasa on what it was like to spend a night in Kaze's house. Wataru and Takara seemed deeply locked in a conversation about the bomb, and whilst he would like to know more he did decide to just pass them by and leave them some level of privacy.

With those options firmly thrown out the window, Kaze sat himself down at the only option available and one he wasn't unhappy with, one occupied by the resident idfk, Shino Noriyuki. The dirty looking man looked up and waved as Kaze laid down his plate and let Shino have his silence for a moment. Although strangely, a conversation was started by Shino, and not just that, one starting with the delivery of an item sealed in an envelope "I was told to deliver this."

Kaze looked up at the ultimate before reaching forward and sliding the envelope back to him, having his fingers grip under the enclosed barts and ensuring his back was to the wall as he opened it, so nobody would breach the privacy of this contained letter. The letter was short, and the fresh ink indicated it had come from a fountain pen, stated Kaze's trained eye which his brain agreed with, his brain relaying back to him that this could only be the work of one person.

"Kaze, I've been chewing through half my stock of pens for the past few hours. The next council meeting will be tomorrow at eleven (it will be past curfew so be sure it's safe before making the trek over), but before I relay the information to the rest of the members, I need to tell you first, alone. It is mind blowing, I think I may have been able to find out where the Board of Talent disappeared to using a paper trail. We can find them Kaze! We can find them and find out what happened to this city! I can't risk this letter being leaked, I also found evidence that Monokuma wasn't lying. I'm not sure who, but in my documents, and combined with what I saw I know someone has been interacting with the Monokubs, there are still too many very specific things censored for these documents to be 100% true. With just us two we can piece it together, I know we can. Kaze, you're the only one I know for a fact wouldn't do this. I know you're still kinda mad at me and yeah I kinda am at you but this isn't about the city, us, or even despair. It's about helping everyone, and the city needs both of us at our best to do that. The ugly truth and the face of hope don't need to be so different… don't forget that. Meet me at my house tonight at around 9:50, right before the nighttime announcement, that way when you leave people won't be suspicious because they will all be in bed, just be careful on your way back home. We have a lot to go over.

Name a type of cheese,

Tomomi.

Kaze looked the note over and before he even knew it he had found himself staring at the letter, the words on it too unreal to believe. The Board of Talent, she found them? Tomomi could be the way to find out what was going on with this city. Were they still alive? Were they the masterminds? Or did she just happen to now know where their base was located? They could have evacuated, or destroyed evidence or…. No, no not like that. They wouldn't. Despite what the kubs and even Monokuma said Kaze knew them, they were people who loved this city, this all had to be for some greater reason. The city wouldn't, it couldn't just die on them. Still, the ability to see for themselves… my god.

Kaze looked up from his letter and found that everyone had already begun to disperse, the time for breakfast passing as Kaze must have stared and reread that hour for at least an hour now, or maybe two, time was beginning to lose meaning. The only time that mattered now was 9:503. He caught a glimpse of Tomomi as she left and he saw her give him a small smile and make a cute motion with her hands like she was holding a camera before moving her finger like she was taking a picture, winked, then left. No malice, she was mad at him but just that, mad, not hatred like others had displayed. There was no ill will or anything to indicate this could not be repaired, she truly was the ideal citizen…. No, more than that…. An ally, no not that either. Is this, what it felt like to have a friend?

Kaze turned his head to Shino and since he had quite some time to kill, he found himself beginning to talk. "Shino, do you feel like any mistake can be corrected?"

Shino continued his blank stare forward before leaning back a bit "Usually."

Kaze nodded his head in response, his inner thoughts finally catching up with for a desire to be vocalized "I have been having nightmares. And I have been getting beaten. I can't sleep, I can't conquer the enemies in my base, food is beginning to lose its taste. I know people would just classify this as depression but no, it's not that. I still have desires, I still have needs and goals that I want to achieve but… it's just…" Kaze was having a hard time saying what he thought, he didn't know how to feel, or what to think. Answers, salvation was just around the corner but…. What was this feeling inside of him telling him, toying with him that it was still so far away "Have you ever felt like something bad is about to happen? And you know that it is coming, and it is going to hurt you, and you need to do something but you can't? The fight is over before it even started."

Shino just looked him in the eyes, his eyes going hard as steel as he nods, his hand gripping the table "More than you will ever know."

Kaze felt that answer somehow made him feel a little better "Do you mind if we talk for a little while?"

Shino gets up and heads towards the kitchen "I will make us some hot chocolate…. Not at all."

And that, that would make Kaze more happy than anything right about now."

xxx

The day as come and gone and now it was time of finally come and visit Tomomi as her letter asked as he guessed the time was now 9:47 PM. He was now making his way from his house over to Tomomi's with everything that happened today and last night. True the feelings of betrayal, anger and feeling unsafe have yet to disperse however they have gone down. The motive may be true or not but he doubts anyone will act on it and this will just be a passing and fleeting feeling that soon they can all come back together and move past it. His eyes turn to the city. He saw outside though it was clear they were on their way to their houses were Satoshi walking with Kaoru and Haruna. Kaori was watching everyone from her porch sitting on one of her lawn chairs always the onlooker. Deku, Kyojin and Orochi were hanging about with one another.

RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!

Kaze gave pause and he turned facing the kubs as the other citizens also stare with a mix of fear and shock though some of them were more annoyed than anything seeming them come.

Orochi with a snarl "Oh what do you freaks want?"

Monogruff grabbed his shoulder "You… you have been picked to pick up our shit!"

Orochi staring as balls of sweat start to come down his face "But I am allergic to cleaning." Kaze decided best to just ignore that, sure he probably should go make sure Orochi would be ok but half of him believed that cleaning up after the kubs would be good for him and besides if he's to believe Daichi they wouldn't hurt him just make him do boring chores. Also besides he had to go meet someone right now. His mind traveled to Tomomi, he was still mad at her however he knows she means well… that feeling to apologize came back but this time he just might. Just so they wouldn't be fighting she was just trying to do her best and he can appreciate that. Plus his anger was unjustified to someone who just wanted to help.

Finally reaching her house, noting that her lights were still on so it not like he missed her before she went to bed and besides it was only 9:49. Kaze gave pause as he waited for the time to strike 9:50 so he paused a minute to look back into the now darkened city. Seeing some of the other citizens come back to the city for the final hours such as Kerria and Yuki returning from who knows where.

9:50 perfect timing as always. Turning to face the door leading to Tomomi's house and gave a swift knock followed by….

The door just slides open upon the first tap. The creaking of the door in all of Kaze's life something so small and barely noticeable never sounded more like a thunder crashing through the heavens then that door slowly opening. He began peering into that lightened up house, in fact somehow the light almost made it worst. The safety of the light seemed so false in that moment.

No Kaze she just forgot to lock her door, there's no need to freak out ye not need to go and make assumptions, she is fine… Kaze took a step in and his voice lost like a bottle at sea, and like most bottles at sea was finally found and called out.

"Tomomi!"

His voice carried almost eerily through the house as it bounces around the empty house as nothing returned his call and for the first time in Kaze's life the silence was deafening. His eyes scanned the room and again his voice was lost to the thundering silence as a small buzzing sound began to pound into his ears. Why was he acting so weird… she could not even be home she could...

He found his voice again "TOMOMI!" His voice now found he soon forced his legs to move as he turned and pushes by the door slamming it shut behind him as the outside world behind him vanishes and in its place is a blind panic. "Tomomi, Tomomi, where are you..." His mind was acting up he kept seeing visions and imagery that he couldn't put dates or times to. Flashes of dead people he saw as his time as a inquisitor came as his mind quickly went to the worst possible outcomes.

Living room was exactly how he remembered it, the kitchen fine… spotless almost. Bathroom on the downstairs floor clean, same with dining room. He doesn't remember how he got to each room only that his mind returned to him when he got to them. Usually he would hesitate or knock going into a ladies bedroom but his mind wasn't working like usual and it burst open. Half of him hoped to catch her sleeping, showering. Hell even naked getting dressed would be better than this… the room was empty.

Dread… no more than dread it was far deeper and worse then that… it was despair. He turn to the last door in the house it was the empty side room that the citizens could do whatever with. He then slowly pushes open the door and his face paled, hands trembled and he felt the sweat pour more as he for the first time in a long time…. felt a sharp pain in his heart.

The room was a mess, papers were scattered all over the floor, the table was overturned knocking over much of her equipment, her precious camera something she is never without is laid forgotten in a corner of the room. His mind, his rational mind told him to calm down, told him to investigate. Told him to not freak out, to not lose his cool, to not forget everything he was told as an inquisitor, to be distant to see everyone as a stranger, to be cold and closed off…

This line of thought was crushed.

Kaze was now panicking.

Again his mind did not remember the next few moments, when he did come back from his blind panic was feeling the cold air the night hit his face.

"TOMOMI!" His voice echoes throughout the neighborhood making many of the inhabitants jump up turning to him. Kaori being the first up her eyes stare in horror, as Kaze moves down the stairs and turn around looking at all directions.

"Mr. Kain what is going..." Kaori however never got to finish her statement as he grabbed onto her shoulders tightly.

"Please oh God in Heaven, Kaori tell me you saw Tomomi! Tell me she is with you!" The mayor stares down the inquisitor.

"N...no I didn't think she has even left her house. I didn't see her leave I..." Before she finished Kaze moved, no more like shoved by her looking around.

Yuki was there next, approaching him quickly with curiosity in her eyes "Kaze what is wrong?" she ask her voice never changing from its neutral standpoint.

Noburo who came up from behind Kaze says "I was in my bedroom about to go to sleep when I heard all of this screaming, what is happening?"

Kaze says this to everyone who was there and who was listening "I can't find Tomomi she not in her house… I…. she might be out in the city!"

Noburo says "Kaze its night time we just talked about this, the monsters are out there and..."

Kaze eyes widen and his pupils shrink as he turned muttering "Monsters…" And then his brain turned on again "..oh God no" He turned to them frantically "You stay here and look for clues, try to find her I am going out there and I am going to find her!" Before anyone mostly Kaori could stop him he was gone running into the night and down the road.

"TOMOMI!" Kaze shrieked not too dissimilar from a banshee as he ran down the street dividing the neighborhood from the rest of the first district. Come on Tomomi you had to be somewhere, you had to be! Why would anyone do this to her?! No Kaze. Come on don't think like that. She had her quirks, maybe she was just tearing her house apart looking for something. But she wouldn't just leave when they had a meeting scheduled, and coupled with…. He had to find her now!

It was an agonizing run down the streets. Before he determined it would take about 10-15 minutes for someone to get from the park to the neighborhood and that was just by walking. Now as he was turning the corner towards the buildings in the central street Kaze carried himself as fast as he could, and still these five minutes of traveling time was not nearly fast enough, she could be hurt! He found himself turning towards the police station and the hospital when suddenly…. Everything went black.

Literally, it all went black. The street lights all went dark, the lights over the park went dark, all of the windows inside the houses of the neighborhood went dark, the power cut out across the entire first district… except for the lights inside of Ulti-Mart. Kaze stumbled forward with his hands out in front of his face, remembering vaguely when he inspected Ulti-Mart before he noticed it had its own separate fuse box. It was not connected to the same circuit as the rest of the city, likely to have a shelter in case of blackouts with strong lighting right in the middle of the district. He fumbled his way through the black abyss before he touched the windows, using them as a light source. How, how was he supposed to find her no-

*SPLASH*

It was sudden, oh it was sudden but it gave Kaze a location… and damn near close to a heart attack. "TOMOMI!" He called as he made a dash for the pond. Whether it was her alone, her with an attacker, her with a fucking dancing elephant he didn't care he would fight anything to get to her. Even in the darkness he was dashing like a maniac, reaching the park within a minute as he used what limited eyesight he could to scan the area, looking for any sign of her, or anyone with her but he was blind, blind as a bat in the darkness as the limited light couldn't guide him far enough. He kept moving towards where he remembered the pond to be before he tripped into it as well.

*SPLASH*

His arms flailed for a moment, the water having the same murkiness as tar with the starless night sky giving him no vision as he then shifted through the water with his arms out, trying desperately to find something until he found something, his arm bumping into something squishy…. He would apologize later but that accidental gropage allowed him to locate her "TOMOMI!" His screams never quieting down as he put his arms around her body, pulling her towards shore and swimming until he actually smacked into it, using himself as an indicator of where it was so he could hoist her up onto it. He felt himself crawl up to her, his own body now wet and cold as he was getting ready to lift her back up "You're ok, you're ok I have you."

"The time is currently way too late, it is now time to go the eff to sleep and if the bed bugs bite, BITE BACK, take back what is yours… and sweet dreams… that was only for Monobabe the rest of you can get bent!"

"Thwank yu big bwothah!"

He heard it, he vaguely heard it through the still functioning loudspeakers of Ulti-Mart, the Nighttime announcement. Oh no, oh no no no no no no. "We have to move, we have to move NOW!" He tried to help her to her feet only to feel her lurch forward, her body unresponsive. She wasn't moving, at the very least unconscious at worst… no Kaze no just move.

And move he did, carrying her in his arms as he hustled forward as fast as he could, the loud slam of something being heard as it was undoubtedly the Monsterkumas being set free. He couldn't see them, but they could certainly see him. As he was halfway to the safety of Ulti-Mart he heard the clanging of metal on concrete, they were coming and they were coming fast. He had to keep moving, he didn't come so far to save her only to fail now, she needed to be ok, and dammit she would be!

He reached the doors at Ulti-Mart, his shoulder slamming into it as he then cried out in pain, again remembering the hard truth that oh yeah, Ulti-Mart was different. The automatic mechanisms in the doors didn't work, something he learned on the first day here. So Kaze was forced to switch Tomomi around on his arms until she was slung over one of his shoulders, his other hand going between the gaps and forcing the doors open. They were coming open slowly, slowly but surely as he finally had enough of a gap to fit her through. As he did, forcing himself forward enough to get her inside as she thankfully landed gracefully on her side, not smacking her skull or anything just a small bump on the floor. He then used his other hands to force them open wider for himself.

PUHUHUHU! Before he could get through, he felt his leg grabbed and pulled back, one of the Monsterkumas grabbing him and pulling him back as his strong hands gripped the open door with everything he could give as the Kuma then transitioned from holding him back with its barely functioning hand, to it's gaping maw as its big robotic teeth tore into Kaze's leg, making him let out a wail of agony as he felt it's teeth bite down into the soft flesh of his skin, tissues and muscle only holding so long as the teeth were penetrating down to the bone.

PUHUHUHU

Kaze, even though fighting the most agonizing pain he has ever felt as the teeth bore into his leg, grinding against his bone, still fought to survive as he let out one final roar of anguish. "aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh" Before launching himself off his feet and using his other leg to hop up and smash it into the creature' mechanical red eye, cracking it and forcing it to release his leg so he could force his way inside. Almost instantaneously after the release the creature lunged forward to hungrily give chase into the market, but the automatic doors slammed shut right into the monster's neck, trapping it's head inside the supermarket as Kaze still stood on his own two legs. One perfectly fine, the other now bore into, only bits of muscle keeping the bone from being completely revealed under as the pain was excruciating, unholy amounts of pain, but he would not show weakness to these things, to despair.

PUHUHUHU

"You think it's funny?" Kaze moved to the side and grabbed a large metal display case, displaying racks on racks of appliances, replacement or just straight up flat screen televisions, laptops, all the electronics new to there, and gripped the edge of it. The metal rack was huge, even towering over him and easily weighed at least a couple hundred pounds, but he pushed, and he pushed, and toppled the display rack straight onto the kuma's head, straight up denting it as it slammed down on the top of it's skull. Kaze stared down at the creature, still seeing it squirm, still seeing it's jaw move as it saw Tomomi and tried desperately, pathetically to munch on her. If he hadn't shown up, like a pack of vultures they would have destroyed her corpse. Without mercy or care for himself, Kaze jumped high into the air, with all his body weight at the ready… and jumped on top of the display rack. His weight plus the hard metal of the rack just crushed the creatures head flat, any pieces still intact flew off it's body as it leaked a disgusting stream of oil across the floors of the mart.

Kaze raised himself up to his knees, and then just let out a howl of pain as he rolled off the hard metal, his leg in horrible, throbbing, wanting to die levels of pain. He wanted to vomit, and… he actually did, a small amount of vomit simply from the pain meshing in with the oil to create a horrible puddle that he crawled away from, his vision fading as he crawled towards Tomomi, his body refusing to give, his arms reaching for her.

"You're, you're going to be ok… you're going to be….."

And then he fell forward, his vision now completely black as his leg leaked blood down onto the floor, all of his energy gone, his body mangled, his friend hurt, himself hurt. And as the power flickered back on outside, revealing the bodies of dozens of more Monsterkumas coming..

Stranded

xxx

The world was returning as the darkness was fading away to blinding and painful light, why did his body hurt all over.?The pain coming from the days of fighting were all coming back to him now. Especially a burning, horrible sensation in his leg like it was barely attached to his body. No soft bed under him only the cold hard steel of a floor. No pillow to rest on, only the concrete of a wall. His vision was coming back to him when he saw a blue figure moving not too far from him, the blue blur was picking something up.

"Really did a…...to the store I….. knocked it over le…. Move it you…. Bastards" The blue blur said as soon other blurs came rushing into the store, shoving past the blue blur and frantically herding themselves inside.

And the droning of a voice spoke but Kaze blocked it out, more focused on the pounding in his ears, the static in his mind was soon succumbing and he was coming back to full consciousness.

"Oh my god no!"

"What happened?"

"I can't look!"

"Please it can't be!"

"I failed..."

Kaze's multicolor eyes light up focusing as he saw the faces of the other citizens staring at him, they were a mixture of the same emotions of fear, anger, disgust but mostly horror. Behind them stood the 6 monokubs and Monogruff was holding up the supply rack that he dropped on the Monsterkuma the other night and… the other night… the other night.

"Wait what is going on here?" Kaze found his voice which was dried and crackly.

"Oh you're awake, I literally just went over this but ok from the top!" Monokuma said as he appeared next to Kaze Kain and Kaze stares at the bear as he moved his hand to knock the bear out of his face his hand slid over something wet and his eyes turn holding up his hand which was cover in a brilliant bright pink liquid. His mouth opened and eyes shrunk and slowly he turned over, that sense of dread and fear pouring over his entire body now…. Please no don't be….

His eyes focus, as he sees leaning against the wall was Tomomi. She looked so peaceful, her eyes closed, her mouth slightly open, it was almost like she was sleeping. So beautiful ,so at peace with everything, almost angelic. However his eyes went down her body and her shirt was bathed in the bright pink color and finally the source of the brilliant pink blood was protruding out of her chest where her heart would be. And the kicker is, that in the wound, protruding out of it was….

Kaze's very own Hidden Blade.

"A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!"


	10. Everyone Expects the Holy Inquisition

**Hey everyone and we finally got this chapter done and I say 3 chapters all within a month of each other was a good score so far and I hope you all like it, and I will also make a poll for my profile that I am curious what all your guys put.**

[Monogruff Theater]

Finally Part 2 of my origin story has been approved by FOX. Sorry I missed the last chapter it cause chasing FOX out of its hole was quite tough. Damn thing it's like a orange cat coyote thing. Anyways ext after my birth on a snowy summer day in the middle of Fall I was sent as a baby out into the wilderness to go and commit the 3 trials that will prove my name. The first trial I had to scale MT. Igonnadie and second trail was facing down the bay of never ending bad salmon however I said fuck those and went to the last trail where I had to wrestle a Hippopotamus and save Princess Monomaxime and take her right there and then on the face of the hippopotamus and that is how I was born and am now legally married to Monomaxime. The End of Monogruff's origins - Edited by Monomaxime

[End of Monogruff Theater]

"Kaze"

The soft melodic voice echoes cutting through the darkness of the surrounding abyss. It was an odd place, the time between one is awake and when he is in deepest slumber. For that slight moment where the divide is crossed when waking, it is a side where the most primal side comes and thoughts long suppressed or forgotten arose from his brain.

"Kaze come on it's time to wake up," a hushing sound was blowing into Kaze's ear. "Your father won't be to happy if you sleep in." Even that slight aggressive note the voice held when saying "Your Father" still had an angelic softness to it. Still though Kaze's eyes were hard like lead refusing to part to awake, why did he feel so tired? His bones exhausted and his body hurt so badly, to the point that the pain was less stinging and more numb.

"Kaze please honey you have so much to do today" The voice finally seemed to awake the inquisitor as the young man only gave off a small grunt as he awoke.

"Mom?"

However unfortunately when Kaze was awaking he was not where he thought he was, there was no soft bed under him with comforting blankets over him, no warmth of a nights rest. No feeling of rest came even from sleep, it was a odd restless feeling one where it felt like he didn't get a second of sleep those all evidence speaks to the contrary. Has his eyes adjust to the light and for the unfamiliar surrounding he was met with the heretical burning lights, not even the sun itself. The lights moving back and forth only strengthening the growing pain in his head.

Wait what happened last night? Focus eyes stare forward as people talk around him the thumbing of numb voices hit is unresponsive tired ears as he watches as a blue blur leading a group of other multicolor blurs towards him, even moving something big and dark out of the way while doing this.

"Really did a…...to the store I….. knocked it over le…. Move it you…. Bastards" He thinks the blue one spoke… did he say store, store? Why was the store so important? It was there and…

That's right last night when he was escaping from those monsters he had to use the store to get out but… why was he outside, why was he being chased by those monsters.

"Oh my god no!"

"What happened?"

"I can't look!"

"Please it can't be!"

"I failed..."

Kaze's multicolor eyes light up focusing as he saw the faces of the other citizens staring at him, they were a mixture of the same emotions of fear, anger, disgust but mostly horror. Behind them stood the 6 Monokub, especially Monogruff who was holding up the supply rack that he dropped on the Monsterkuma the other night and… the other night… the other night.

"Wait what is going on here?" Kaze found his voice which was dried and crackly.

"Oh you're awake, I literally just went over this but ok from the top!" Monokuma said as he appeared next to Kaze Kain and Kaze stares at the bear as he moved his hand to knock him out of his face, his hand slid over something wet and his eyes turn holding up his hand which was covered in a brilliant bright pink liquid. His mouth opened and his eyes shrunk, and slowly, oh so slowly he turned over he turned over, that sense of dread and fear pouring over his entire body now…. Please no don't be….

xxx

"Kaze, you need to get over here now!" Kaori asserted as she attempted to move over towards Kaze and pull him to the group but it was to no avail. Despite her strength and resolve she couldn't force Kaze to his feet, his body locked to the ground as he stared up at the lifeless body of Tomomi. She was trying to clear the crime scene, he knew that somewhere in his head but that didn't translate to the rest of his body. All he could do was stare up in shock, sad, depressing shock as the woman who was more alive than anyone just one day ago was now pinned to the wall by his own blade, her body actually hanging slightly, her feet not touching the ground at all and her blood dripping into a pool of pink blood at Kaze's feet. Some of her blood was actually dripping down Kaze's forehead and into his eye, creating a murky vision as he just continued to look up in his trance like state at her dead body.

Monogruff cracked his knuckles "Alright I'll get em, can't say i won't break a few ribs in the process but I'll get him over here!" As the 8 foot tall Monokub trudged over with his giant paws in tow, of all people his own father Monokuma got in the way, his own height only going to about Monogruff's knee but it was enough to make him look down.

"Ah let him be a sadsack over some easily forgettable girl, I already forget her name…. I want to say Tammy?" He puts his paw on his chin in thought "Eh whatever she's dead now, oh well! More importantly, it's investigation time!"

Noboru looked over at the body and Kaze for a good long while before going back to Monokuma with a big frown on his mouth but his eyes telling the story of anger "Hey! One of our friends just died! Can't you show a little respect?! We shouldn't have to investigate anything!"

Monokuma looked over with a mixture of confusion and amusement on his face. "Mmm, but you want to find out who killed your friend? Who was so desperate to escape that they resorted to taking another person's life? If she was really your friend, this investigation should give you closure… right?"

Noboru was about to retort but then a frown came to his face as he looked around the room and saw everyone around him, the sniffling and cowering Kaoru who was hiding behind Satoshi, who in turn was holding up one of his cards like a warding charm to protect him. A teary eyed Takara who was pressed against Wataru who turned both of them away from the gruesome sight. And to the mayor herself, who was turned to Noboru with an angry glare in her eyes, her hands going to her knees as she bent over and let out a loud yell of pure frustration. "... It may be the only way." To his shock and to the added shock of everyone else present, she stood up and stared at the despair bear, her eyes hardened. "Explain the rules of this investigation… then we can decide."

"Kaori!" Came a loud cry from Noboru in shock at his friend's reaction.

"N-no…" Tsukasa weakly muttered out as she appeared faint at the sight of the scene before her, and her "husband" sitting right in front of a pool of blood and an increasingly cooling corpse.

Monokuma then raised his furry, no-fingered paw into the air with a cry of victory "Can and will do! Now then, I'm sure you remember the class trial section of your city handbooks, which I see none of you have used by the way, you will remember that once a murder has been committed, we will need to commence a City Trial! After some time has passed, which you may spend investigating at your leisure, the trial will begin with all the evidence you have gathered, and you will have to find the blackened. If you guess right, then only the blackened will be punished. But if you guess wrong, I will have to punish everyone BESIDES the blackened. Oh, it's so beary simple, but so beary deadly. Puhuhuhu."

Kiaria raised her voice up meekly, finding it after being quiet for so long "Wait… punished? Why would we get punished for someone else committing a crime?"

Monokuma points his paw at her accusingly "Well if someone accused you or murder and you didn't get punished, wouldn't you want to see them get punished painfully and gruesomely for daring to accuse you of the splendiferous crime you didn't get a chance to commit?!"

Kiaria jumps back, her hands in mid air beginning to strum as if her violin was with her "N-no not at all!"

Monokuma stared at her a moment before turning his nose up at her "Hm, then we cannot be friends. But yes, a game with no stakes isn't a fun game at all, for you, or for anyone else."

The rest of the Ultimates could see the keen eye of Deku perk up at the bear's words "Anyone else you say?"

Monokuma felt his face go completely blank for a second before recovering "Did I say that? It's not like we have any special guests inside the city…" Beads of sweat began to pour down his furry face.

"MOVIN ON!" Interrupted Monoboss quickly, literally cutting in between them with his massive girth cutting off any further conversation.

Monogruff let out a loud belly laugh that sounded like it came straight from the Devil himself "GAHAHAHAHA!" Everyone in the room (Minus Kaze) felt their gaze go towards him. "I'm just so happy! Blood has finally been spilt, and it was in my sector! It was the cute little innocent journalist and someone maimed her! Oh I would have grinded her into paste with my bare hands while she was still conscious personally, but whoever did this clearly has good taste!" The truly disgusting barbarian of a man gazed in the direction of all the living citizens "Oh you better examine well, or will be cleaning up guts after my punishment time for all of you cretins. GAHA….. AGWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He pushed himself to the front of the group, asserting himself as the head of this outfit, whether that was true or not was up to interpretation but he was definitely the biggest one there.

"Oh dearie me, his bloodlust has taken over." Monolisa reached into her pocket and pulled out a little paper fan, beginning to use it on herself "It is beginning to make me faint."

Monomaxime looked up at the tower that was Monogruff and his cheeks underneath his mask turned a vibrant pink "Oh me too." A small line of drool escaped his lips, to which Monobabe jumped up and slapped a napkin against his face to stop it from falling to the floor.

Monokuma pushed through Monogruff's meaty thighs and the valley of Monoboss's thiccness to approach the group again "Welp, we'll leave you to the investigating. You better make the right choice, and not the dreadfully wrong one. PUHUHUHUHU…. AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" And then away he went in a puff of smoke.

"So long! Bear well!" And a second, much larger cloud of smoke came to cover the others as they disappeared as well…. Except for Minogruff, who appeared to stay behind in order to monitor them.

It was a long time before anyone said anything after that

Kaori looks around as the bodyguard took center stage and says looking as all of the citizens have finally arrived all gathered within the cramp halls of the supermarket however it would seem as all the kubs left only one was force to stay behind and that one was the powerful warden of district one Monogruff who seemed to have to be force to stay as a way to hold up the massive rack that was in the way of the door way so people could come in and out. However he was polite enough to reside himself to silence letting the City's citizen go about their investigation without much in the name insults or grumbles.

Kaori watches everyone and says. "We need to divide out forces and checks many locations and figure out what the heck happened."

Noboru looks to her with a saddenning trembling gaze "We can't just leave her like this… we should..."

"No we must leave the body how we found it, tampering with it should and will be looked upon with suspicion." Kaze spoke out, as the others saw him slowly dragging himself up from his spot as he looked at his pink blood stain gloves one final time before looking over to everyone. He could see it in their eyes some of them have already made up their minds, it was him. He was lying in a pool of her blood as she was against the wall dead, he was the only one in the market when they came in, the weapon was his own blade… it made sense. He would admit even he would be suspicious of him, there was only one problem.

He didn't do it. He knew that, and he knew if they didn't get it it figured out not just he, but everyone else here would be doomed. If the bear's word was true, this wasn't just about Tomomi, it was about everyone. He looked back at her body one more time, his eyes locked in perpetual sadness as he looked at her, the once full of life and idealistic girl, the one who would give you the shirt of her back and the story of the century. He never got a chance to say he was sorry, of to tell her how much he appreciated everything she did for him and the city. But.. she wouldn't want him to sit around and mope, to mourn her, she would want him to get to the bottom of this. She would want him to find out the truth behind this case and save everyone. "... I will investigate this." He looked down and saw it, thankfully away from the puddle of blood pooling around her body, his Inquisitor's hat. He bent over and picked it up, placing it back upon his head.

"... The fuck you are!" Came an outburst from Orochi, his arms crossed with a glare formly on him "You are our prime suspect, in fact not even a suspect, you are the killer! Oh, you're gonna get gutted like a pig… hehehe." A small dark chuckle of glee escaped the boy's mouth.

Haruna sighs with a shack of her head as she then cuffed Orochi on his cheek, making him squeal and scurry off "While I hate him he… has a point. Kaze, we found you in a pool of her blood."

"With your own weapon…." Regretfully added Kaori, the bodyguard who attempted to take control now stopping Kaze from doing the same. "I am not saying it has to be you, we have to gather evidence first, but I can't allow you to take such a crucial role in the investigation when you are this big of a suspect."

Kaze felt his brow furrow as he couldn't help but feel slightly offended "Did you truly think if I were to commit a crime it would be this sloppy?"

Kaori thinks for a moment "Sloppy or not, again, you cannot-"

Yuki of all people cut in "Then what if I supervise him?" It was such a stark comment, one that sounded more like a fact than a request, making the bodyguard stop for a moment "What if I go with him and make sure that he does nothing to interrupt the investigation? If he does, I will tell you. If something happens to me, than you know who the killer is, it gives you the help of the inquisitor, and ensures he will not be a nuisance to the investigation."

Noboru looks at her and Kaze, and then up to Kaori "W-what are you thinking Kaori?" Noboru…. He seemed terrified. The second Kaze looked at him he looked away with his body shaking. It was sheer terror. As he looked around the room he discovered he wasn't the only one, at least half a dozen others including Kaoru, Kerria, Deku, Satoshi, and the one that hurt the most… Tsukasa, all unable to meet his gaze. This was another thing he had to solve the mystery for.

Kaori took a long few minutes to think on this before finally relenting by saying "Yes, if those are the conditions, I am fine with it… as long as he is aware he will be going into the trial being highly suspected.

Kaze responds with a nod "Regrettably, I understand."

Kaori turned to Noboru and then looked sadly at Tomomi "Someone… needs to protect the body. I will do it, you can guard it with me Noboru." Her friend nodded as the two took position near Tomomi's body. Whilst they did that, the other people at the Mart began to disperse into groups, some of them stating where they were going, and others not. Tokaku and Kerria left without so much as a word, however Tokaku was currently attempting to fight back tears from streaming down her face. Tomomi, she was a close friend to many, and a great person.

Kaze then turn and look around the shop itself the place itself was mainly untouched however expect when you got to the front of the store where Kaze seemed to have dropped that rack in front of the doorway leaving nowhere to gain entry in fact the only way that anyone even had access was because Monogruff was holding the rack up, seeing it was a pretty good industrial size rack it must weigh at least 800 pounds, which even with Monogruff immense size was still quite a feat for him. The only people currently in the mall were just Kaori, Noburo, Yuki and Kazew himself.

"Psst, hey brats almost forgot I need to hand you something." The 4 citizens look as Monogruff with a menacing tone as he stares at them. "However since my arms are currently holding this up need one of you to come and get it from my left thigh pocket, how about the cute kuudere. No idea what that is but I heard Monomaxine say it once."

Finally getting a better look at Monogruff the oversized man who seem to be double if not triple the size of any other human he has ever met. However seeing the pulsing muscles under that dark white skin tone, however on closer inspection Kaze realized something he must have missed since he never stared at them for to long however Monogruff's mask was no ordinary Monokuma mask that many of the other despair worshippers wore. Other than it being a white and blue instead of the usual black and white it was actually a welding mask the over sized and clunk mask was fit over his face with it split down the middle. As Kaze looked at him facing him his left side was white and his right side was that deep blue and it seem the jagged eye monokuma as was also his eye socket. Adorne the top of his head was a black bandanna hiding the rest of his facial features.

Much to Gruff's annoyance it was not in fact the emotionless Yuki who approached him but Kaze reaching down and grabbing the pocket. "Giving me flashbacks to Maxine kid, be careful their a eel down there to that bigger than you ever imagine."

Kaze chooses to ignore and suppress that as he finally stuck his hand into the pocket and pulled out what looks like a small device similar to the monopads the students were given expect this one was dark blue.

"There you go ya brats a gift from me to you, I hope it helps gahaha" Yuki walks over curiously as she waves over Kaori and Noburo over.

From what Kaze gathered after he turned it on a text displayed on the screen. Appearing in big white letters over a black background was.

[Monogruff File]

Under the title said "Slide to Activate" Kaze looks as he turn seeing a pale hand coming up holding her hand out for it was Yuki which Kaze simply handed to her as Noburo and Kaori crowded around her with Kaze as Yuki's finger touched the pad and slide her finger cross it. Then a imagine appears, the imagine being the living smiling face of his once dear friend Tomomi Kamato.

Tomomi Kamato  
Height: 5 ft 5  
Weight: 107 lbs  
Chest: 30 in  
D.O.B: May 12th  
Blood Type: A  
Ultimate Journalist

It was just her bio from the report card that he got of her however the picture of her in the right corner now had in bright pink letters over it...

"DEAD"

Yuki read over it and said in a very monotone way "It gives us basic info on her… not particularly helpful."

Kaori reaches over and says "Look there are tabs." In which she was correct there were two tabs. The one they were currently on said "Victim", but the other one read "situation". Yuki then raised her pale finger before pushing the Situation button.

This time though the picture changed so the screen showed Tomomi now dead with a sword pinning her to the wall straight through her heart, blood dripping her chest and staining her clothes. There were a few sentences in bright pink text under that picture which Yuki decided to read aloud.

"The Victim's Body was discovered in the Ulti-Mart," Yuki eyes scan the words as Kaze's eyes turn toward Tomomi's body instead. It was hard for him knowing they were talking about her and her untimely death while she was still there, unceremoniously. "Estimated time of death is 11:30 PM" Continuing from her post "The victim has seemed to have received a bruise to the cranium, along with being Impaled through the chest resulting in her death. The victim also appears to have been waterlogged.." Yuki finishes talking and turns over to the others.

So Tomomi really is dead. Though her body was here for all to see, something about that report made that feel so… final. He remembers her yet again, as she was the first person he met in this once beloved city, and he was supposed to meet her that fateful night that she said she discovered something, figuring it all out… was that why she had to die? He kept recalling the letter he received and tried to piece it together in his mind, but he just couldn't figure it all out.

"Here." he turns over and sees Yuki was holding the Pad out towards him. Before Kaze could get a word out she continues "Kaze Kain's Trench Coat is adorned with 2 sets of pockets, two outwards by his thighs however Kaze Kain also has 2 holster pockets by his chest pointing inwards, a design choice of the Coat dating back to the days of the American Wild West."

"Excuse you?" The Inquisitor says crossing his arms.

"In other words you have pockets in which you can hold onto this that I simply don't..." Kaze then shrugs and he takes the file slipping it into his pocket.

 **MONOGRUFF FILE ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS.**

"Who could have done something so horrible?" Kaori looks over at the body, feeling like she had to look at it in order to accept the reality that she failed "I will never forgive them for doing this." The bodyguard's fist clench as Noburo looks over to Kaori a bit shocked.

"But Mori, whoever did this is our friend. And... for all we know the kubs did it?" Kain did pause at that, there was a chance that the Monokubs along with their twisted father did this and not them. "You can't honestly think one of us did it do you?"

"I am not sure what to think Noburo but whether it was them or us someone killed Tomomi and I will find out who." She huffs a bit, turning herself towards Tomomi's body and began to walk over to it "Come Noburo this has been a long enough break, we need to return and watch over her." The bodyguard and her helper both head over to the body leaving them alone.

Yuki holds up her hand and says "Before we do this Kaze I need you to confess to me everything that happened the other night. How did you screaming in the neighborhood end up with you barricaded in the Ulti-Mart, and don't say you can't remember. That option has long left the table."

Kaze crossed his arms and looked down at her. "So you think I did it too?"

However the Cyan hair colored girl shook her head. "No not only do I think you didn't do it, I know you didn't do it."

This caught the Inquisitor's attention and a moment of genuine appreciation at that seeing that even with their differences they still seem to have some connection. "So you want what happened" When Yuki gave him a nod, Kaze gave a recount of the events.,unfolding how he panicked and fled into the night hoping to find Tomomi. Telling her how he got a letter from her for 9:50 and when he entered the city at night it hit ten. Where he heard a splash to discover Tomomi was in the pond being swarm by the monster kumas. A daring rescue and running escape, before eventually getting into the mall and fortifying it, where he finally succumbed to his injuries and passed out. "And that's what happened to me last night."

Yuki nods a bit, looking down to write it into notebook. "I see."

Kaze let out a small smirk a bit "Why are you writing it down? You're the Ultimate Mem..." Before he finished the piece of paper was shoved into his chest.

"Not for me, but for you." Was all Yuki said before returning to the body.

 **LAST NIGHT EVENTS ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

Kaze took a moment to walk around the Ulti-Mart, wondering how someone could have gotten in here, it's not like they could have used the front door. Let's forget about the fortifications but he remember that the army of those monsters were right outside, so how did someone get into the Mart with him, or them not noticing?

He turned back over to see that Yuki was writing something down as she talked to Kaori and Noburo. Kaze thought that since they were chatting, he could focus on the body. Kaori turned over and says "Yes that's where I was Yuki" Yuki gave a nod and she turned to Noburo, allowing the bodyguard to go over next to Kaze. "... I don't suspect you, you know I trust you and all its just..."

"No I get it," Kaze gruffs out and he looks at Tomomi. The longer he stared at her body the more he wasn't getting used to it, it made him feel even sicker and worse the longer he looked at her body. He just.. it didn't sit right with him. Like he wanted to vomit that the idea that this will be the last memory of her burnt into his skull was almost to much to bear, but he had to. He had to keep pushing on when no one else would. Not cause he wants to, but because he has too. He had to hold up this burden for the rest of the citizens. It was his job, no his purpose. He should be used to murder, he should know bloodshed was coming, but why was he freaking out? Why was he being so weak? What is wrong with…

"Kaze?" Kaori's hand touches his shoulders making the inquisitor turn to face the bodyguard. Kaori watches him slowly and says "Do you need a minute outside…?"

Kaze shook his head "No I..."

Kaori shook her head and took his shoulder "No we are going outside, Noboru and Yuki can watch and investigate while you and me get some fresh air." She walked over with the Kaze, who was reluctantly being lead by her "Excuse us Monogruff" To which the largest ultimate despair bear barely gave them even a passing glance as the two of them now stood outside into somewhat fresh air. He let out a deep intake of it before releasing it, already being away from her it made his mind return to him. "Much better."

Kaze could only nod in agreement as he looks around at the crumbling city, smoothing his hair back before placing his hat back on. He looks over to Kaori and say "Thanks"

She waved it off immediately "Don't mention it Kaze." Was all Moriya said as they leaned against the wall together. "I know you two were somewhat close, I am sorry for what happened."

Kain frowns and he leans back sliding down, taking a seat on the cracked sidewalk. "Its no one's fault… except whoever this… "blackened" is." He wondered who could have done it…. he definitely had a few theories, though he needed to check a couple things out before he began stating them.

Kaori frowns and says "I should have noticed something… I mean I think I was the last person to see her," he turned to her, giving a questioning look at that statement. "I mean I think… I don't know." She seems a bit distressed. "I was supposed to watch everyone and protect them but, I let her down." She looked down to her feet as Kaze looked up at her in return and patted the ground next to him, which she slowly took, taking a seat next to him as they turn to face each other.

"What do you mean you were the last to see her?" The top hat wearer was now curious and depending on what he hears it could point to her, which he doubted immensely. however as am inquisitor no one was beyond suspicion. "Explain."

Kaori turns to look at him and began her statement "Tomomi and I have been talking a lot since the meeting at her house, we were thinking of making some sort of committee, I know many would find it unfair but it was our best bet to keep everything manageable."

Kaze nods a bit at that and crosses his arms "it makes sense it is. what the Board of Talent sort of was, and besides it not like you were keeping anything from the rest of the citizens, you just wanted to have people to talk with before being brought ot the rest of the citizens." He didn't see the big deal with it all. Most people should feel safe knowing they don't have to worry about making the tough choices. What is the sacrifice of having your opinions known for the guaranteed safety of having superiors above them? Kaze voiced this to the bodyguard,

telling her it wasn't a bad thing, in fact it probably what was needed and how you weren't keeping secrets from the other like 10 people. "But Kaze what if we were, even if that's not our intent how long would it have been until there would be some form of elitism… Tokaku was right." Kaze found that odd.

She shook her head in order to clear the doubt from her eyes. "Besides the point though, I was doing what I always do when night is setting upon our community, I stood on my porch and watched until night came. However before that Me, Tomomi and Yuki spent most of our day talking before we separated. Yuki went back to the city, I stayed on my porch and Tomomi went into her house around... I'd like to say 7, and the whole time I was there until you entered the house and left in a panic I never saw her leave the house, so as far as I am aware I was the last to see her alive and she never left her house."

Kaze eyed her for a second and he says looking back over to inside the mall. "And you're...sure about that?"

Kaori nods and says "I will admit I wasn't paying like a close eye on her house however I know for a fact Tomomi never left her house, and I never saw anyone enter either."

 **KAORI'S ACCOUNT ADDED TO THE TRUTH BULLETS**

"That is odd" Kaze rubs his chin a bit, however after a moment he realized that sickly feeling in his gut seems to have gone and passed. It would seem talking to Kaori actually did make him feel a bit better. "I think I am better so I guess we can head back in Kaori" She nods and she gets up, both of them heading back inside to the mart. Inside they saw Noboru and Yuki by the body, by more like Yuki was close to the body while Noboru was sitting on one of the cashier stations staring at her.

"I don't even know how she can be just so close to her… since she's dead." The tightrope walker commented, to which Kaori nods in a agreement as Kaze walks past them towards Yuki.

"What did you find?" Kaze crosses his arms coming to Yuki as Yuki looks over to him with her always neutral look and points to Tomomi.

"Touch"

Kaze made a face and shook his head "No"

"Just do it." Yuki insisted. He frowns, but if she found something than he had to know… so goes and touches her clothing feeling that they were... wet.

"Mmm?" Kaze was confused by that and looks over "What am I supposed to be feeling."

Yuki shrugs and says "Nothing, and Kaze do you recognize the weapon used against her.?

Kaze looks over to the weapon, rolling his eyes a bit as he says "Of course I do it is my secret blade… probably used to frame me."

 **TOMOMI'S BODY ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

 **KAZE'S BLADE ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

Yuki nods a bit and says "And what is odd about that?" She looks at the sharp blade "Why does that make sense how it was used to kill her?"

Kaze shrugs a bit "I don't know it is a good blade... so I can see why someone would use it to kill someone. I mean it wasn't me since it was confiscated from me and put in the…. Police… Station..."

Yuki nods and says "Kaori, Noboru we are off." She turned and grabbed Kaze by the wrist, practically dragging him towards the front entrance of the mart once she was done in there. It was rather rude but Kaori and Noboru seemed fine with it, the latter offering him a sad smile. They were good people, the city needed that right now.

Kaze and Yuki made their way down the street, determined to reach their next destination. The murder weapon, Kaze's own hidden blade… it had to have come from the safe in the Police Station. And of course in there they have a material witness, Takeshi, who has been locked in his cell all night. If anyone would have saw this person take the hidden blade, it would have had to be Takeshi. Kaze and Yuki made very little sound, no conversation as they traveled, Yuki making silent steps as she went, her petite legs and feet cascading across the street with no noise. Kaze opposite her was trudging along, his fists clenched and his boots slamming against the cracked concrete with no remorse as they reached the Police Station. Kaze took the lead and practically slammed his shoulder into the door to open it with no tact. "Takeshi, we have questions!"

And the second they walked in, they realized something was very wrong. The Police Station didn't look like it did the past few days at all, as a matter of fact it didn't even look like the Police Station. All of Takeshi's medals, all of the weapons like batons and firearms, uniforms, everything except the bare essentials like the Police Desk and Takeshi's cell key was completely gone. As Kaze wandered through the station trying to put his finger on everything that was missing, Yuki was just rifling off every single missing item, spending a solid five minutes before a stern loud voice cut her off.

"SHUT UP!" To which Yuki did after listing three more items, completing her mental list as they both turned to see Takeshi, his hands gripping the iron bars so hard his knuckles were beginning to lose color, his teeth grinding together as his mouth was open in visual anger "Stop sitting there explaining every little item that got stolen under my nose!" The cop growled out as he slammed his hand angrily against the bars.

Kaze leered back at the cop, the fallen lawman in his eyes unable to not just protect this city, but attempt to murder one of its inhabitants, and now your incompetence has led to an actual murder!"

Takeshi felt his head snap up as the fire in his eyes just completely was extinguished, all of the fight in him seeming to leave his body "... What?"

Kaze looked at him and for a moment, just a moment, he felt that rivalry that has festered between those two vanish. "You… you didn't hear?"

Takeshi shook his head quickly, his body moving back against the wall as his hands went into his hair and gripped clumps of it in agitation "What happened? WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!"

Yuki decided herself that the best way to break it to him was just to say it and rip that band-aid off painfully "Tomomi is dead… with Kaze's blade which was stolen from here."

After that, Takeshi's eyes just went dead, his hands twitching and pulling at his own hair as he then ripped them out, handfuls of his own hair being yanked out as he slapped his hand hard against the wall in frustration "DAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNIIIIIITTTTTTT!" His face contorted as his head than painfully collided with the wall, his body just seeming to react on its own with his anger seeping out of every pore. "I blew it …. I FUCKIN BLEW IT!" Someone died, Kaze seemed to realize that Takeshi was likely putting just as much pressure on himself to be the protector of the people that Kaze was to be the protector of the City.

"Takeshi…. She's dead, but it's not just your fault… it's mine, it's Kaori's, it's everyone who said they wouldn't let this happen and yet it did… but most of all it's the person who did this. So just, focus on what we can do now ok?" The anger was still there, inside him the anger at Takeshi was still present but Yuki could hear it, when he talked about himself, his voice cracked as he realized that everyone failed Tomomi… the City failed Tomomi.

Takeshi nodded his head slightly as he slid down the wall, his hands still clutching his head as he stared at the floor, the crestfallen cop killing himself for this on the inside. "As a cop, whenever you come across a crime scene, you have to detach yourself and say there was nothing you could do. But thats with strangers, I knew her, I talked to her, she interviewed me after the election, she even brought me a cookie before nighttime the other night. I…. Should have done something. I could have done something." He let out a heavy sigh, all of the air leaving his lungs as he looked up weakly at them. "Search the station, and ask whatever you want." His fight was gone, he just…. Had nothing left in the tank after hearing that. Kaze could empathize, when he awoke in that pool of blood he at least had the motivation of the others around him to pull him out of his trance but Takeshi, he was imprisoned.

Kaze looked at him and then at Yuki, and with a simple nod she knew what to do and began to search the station for anything very specific that was missing, specifically the safe.

Kaze began the interrogation but was much more quiet than usual, no need to break an already beaten man "Do you know who took the weapon?"

Takeshi gave one of his usual angry looks, like he was about to go off but then he deflated down "If I did I would have said something already. I was asleep, and what little I did see was obscured in the darkness. Something happened in the Police Station, I jostled awake when I heard a loud bang and then the lights were out… I waited a solid five minutes but nothing happened and there wasn't anything I could do, after screaming for another minute or so I just went back to sleep, I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face."

Kaze lets out an angry sigh, feeling that his best lead was just taken out from under him and his face slapped along the way "So, you were truly here last night but didn't see anything? Your story is that you were in the Police Station all night, and you believe the thief made off with everything in the dark?"

Takeshi after a moment of silence nodded "Yeah, that's right."

 **TAKESHI'S IMPRISONMENT ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

Kaze backed up from the cell, unsure what else to even ask him at this point. The fact he saw nothing at all made this just so much harder for him to make heads or tails of what happened. Without knowing who the thief was, who took the weapon, how could he ever figure out who did this atrocious crime?

"Kaze," Yuki let out a sharp stating of his name to draw him over towards the safe, with which they could both see very clearly, it was empty. "The key is gone, and I have been able to determine there are no places to hide in the Police Station. If Takeshi is telling the truth, he would have had to do things as he said."

Kaze looks at her and nods a bit "I see…. But the safe is wide open? If the key was taken, then it was clear the thief did not want the safe opened afterwards. But then…" He looked back over to the safe, which was swinging wide open. "Why leave the safe open? And if they just wanted what was in the safe, why take all the valuables in the station? That seems more like standard robbery than looking for a specific item."

Yuki put her index finger to her mouth, thinking a bit as her sunhat cutely swayed side to side as she did the same, a contemplative rocking back and forth if you will. "Yes, interesting indeed."

 **POLICE STATION RANSACKED ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

"KazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKazeOW!" Came a droning from the outside of the station before he heard a slam straight into the door, as sliding into the room, splattered against the door like a cartoon character was Takara, the Curator popping off it as she nearly tumbled backwards over the desk "Oh hi takeshi, hi Yuki….. KazeKazeKazeKazeKazeKaze-"

"WHAT?!" Kaze reacted louder than he intended to, his arms crossed in annoyance as he stared her down.

Takara jumped up and down, not letting his less than nice reaction dampen her mood "You have to come see what we found, we found something super important! CMON!" And then she just ran out, her arms flailing as she left in pure excitement. Yuki looked at Kaze and let a small shrug come off her shoulders, leaving the room to follow her. Kaze went to do the same but stopped himself as he reached the doorway, his gaze turning back to the slumped over cop in the cell. Without saying a word to him, he walked up to the desk and grabbed the key to his cell, tossing it into the cell with him. "You are free to go. Whenever you are ready." Takeshi looked back up at him, his hand slowly touching the key as Kaze stared back, a quiet moment between rivals as Kaze then left the room to the cop, letting Takeshi think and mourn on his own time.

Yuki and Kaze left the police station following the museum curator as she quickly moved outside and down the street. And by down the street I mean like five feet away from the station. Her body was literally bouncing in excitement as she moved before stopping at her destination. "So what did you guys want to show us...and where is Wataru?" Kaze looks around as Takara says.

Takara over, took his elbow, and exclaimed "Heisunderus!"

"What?" Kaze blinks a bit staring at her as Yuki moved to his side and repeated "what?" like a monotone echo.

"He is under us." Yuki then looks to Takara "That is what you said right?" Talara nodded quickly as she then crouched down and they both watched as she presses her fingers to a manhole cover, something that you saw practically everywhere on paved roads and would never give even a second glance at. Takara then attempts to lift it up "gggrrr…. Wait one second… grrr" They both watched the museum curator attempt to get her fingers in the holes and try to lift up the manhole… it was amusing for a brief moment.

"Need help?" Kaze looks down at her, though Takara shook her head quickly and assured them that she had it, only to watch her for another brief moment of her struggling and making more weird noises. Kaze crouched down with a shake of his head and took the manhole cover. With a small struggle he managed to lift it up. "There."

Takara pouts and says looking away "I had it..." She then perked back up quickly "During the meeting we said we found some secret stuff and this is one of those secrets. I am not sure what the ancient people of this land used it for, we believe it was a way that servants could deliver sandwiches to the upper class without being seen by the rebels of the Takamori uprising!" She then began to descend whilst looking up at the blank faces of the Inquisitor and the memorizer. "Coming?" She squeaked before entering the dark sewers.

Kaze makes a face "Well... this is gross."

Yuki moves by him and began to descend as well "Stop whining, at least you can repress this." She said, and although her voice never changed it's current pitch, Kaze could tell she hated this as she also walked down into the sewers, followed soon by Kaze himself.

However what they were expecting was running water and nothing but the usual human waste, one would expect since their water still worked the water had to go somewhere right? however what they found is that the sewer was dried up and in a state of disrepair. He looks over looking left then right, the path that would have went deeper into the city was collapsed and caved in making it impossible for them to get through, meaning the only other way was heading towards the neighborhood. Kaze when he finally turned to face the other way he saw Takara and Wataru there with Yuki talking to them.

Kaze walked over to them as Yuki was writing something down and says "And you two can vouch for each other?" Which both of them nod and turned to face Kaze.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kaze looks over and around them, as he noticed that right behind the group was a long object on the ground he couldn't quite see as Takaraa waves.

"What?" Wataru says putting his hand to his ear again. "Sorry can you repeat?"

Takara takes his shoulders and says "Oh what he said is..." She leaned into her friend and said quietly to his ear "he said…. WHATAREYOUGUYSTALKINGABOUT!?" She screeches into his ears, her voice turning shrill as Wataru's eyes widen and he goes and grabs his ear and jumps back cursing up a storm, moving away from her.

"Oh my gawd Wataru are you ok? Did you get stung by a bee! How did a bee get in the sewers…. I THINK I KNOW WHO DID IT."

Yuki without missing a beat "No you don't… however I was unaware that the sewer system was still intact." She looked over behind Kaze's shoulder at the caved in pipe. "Mostly."

Wataru walked over holding his ear and said "Yes we discovered this place a few days ago while me and Takara were looking around. This is the only sewer tunnel standing and connected to another manhole." He looks over and says "I spent a good enough time down here to memorize it pretty well and I have to admit that is new. Wasn't here 2 days ago when I was last down here."

Takara says "this place is scary and dark and smells like Stalin's Mustache so I only come down with Watty here... so I can vouch for that."

The Historian duo turned and pointed over at what was on the ground near the ladder that Kaze just climbed down. It a long pole laying.. a familiar pole. kaze reached down and picked it up as he frowns realizing what is it. "Wait is this one of..."

"Those poles for the pole vaults at the "meat and beat" yes, yes it is" Yuki says looking at it. "Why is it down here?" They noticed along the side of it were a bunch of scratch marks and even a splinter in the wood

 **POLE VAULT ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

Setting it down was Wataru, shrugs and says "I am not even sure but it is here, and there are some interesting things down here if you wanna..."

Kaze shook his head and says "No we need to investigate the murder." He says firmly and he continues with "You said this is one of the few sewer systems that still connects to another one... show us." He points over, making Wataru and Takara nod their heads and begin to head down the path as Yuki follows then. Kaze took a step however as they walk in his peripheral vision he saw something. He turns as he saw on the wall was something that caught his attention that he didn't recognize staring at it. Staring at him was what looks like a red bird bursting through an open flame with its wings outstretched and in black letters it said..

"Rise in fire for H.O.P.E"

What the heck is this, he reaches to touch it, and on the side of it was a small little sticky note on the side of it reading.

 _"Decipher later" ~Love Takara_

Kaze rolls his eyes at that though even he had to admit this was such an interesting thing to look at, he honestly didn't know what it means or the importance behind it which was odd. Kaze had a thorough understand of most of the pop culture or clubs within the Ultimate City sure some clubs went with Hope in their titles but never with a burning phoenix… he wondered what it all meant. Kaze looks over as he heard his name being called.

"Kaze over here silly, what are you doing looking at the wall? Silly billy we have to show you something." Takara calls, as Yuki and Wataru watch as the flustered Kaze joined them at the next ladder. Takara then motioned to said ladder "Here we are the other end, and as you can see it blocks off past it again." She pointed past the ladder again showing the cave in.

"So what is above us?" Yuki mused looking up as she turned to the hard of hearing boy.

"Climb and find out." Wataru says to her looking over.

"Wataru you can't have girls go first" Takara clarified. As Wataru and Kaze were confused for a second before they realized that both girls were indeed wearing skirts as both of them were giving the boy questioning looks.

"Right then, you are correct madams." With that Kaze followed by Wataru ascended the ladder as Kaze with ease moved and soon got up and looked around followed by the Paleontologist as he looked around a bit. He had to admit this was a bit weird to see, he was back in the neighborhood... in fact dead in the center of the cul-de-sac with everyone's living corridors there. "Huh." Soon Takara and Yuki climb up as well.

Yuki nods a bit "What would you know the a direct link from the neighborhood to by the Police Station."

 **SEWER SYSTEM ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

Kaze and Yuki decided that since they were here they should investigate the neighborhood, more specifically, Tomomi's House. After all it was the sight of what appeared to be a brutal home invasion last night that may have led to murder, so it had to have some clues inside that would help determine what happened right? As he traveled with the memorizer, he began to walk towards his house when he suddenly felt a tug in his arm, which sure enough was coming from Ms. Hashimoto herself. "Yes?" Kaze asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kaze, did you leave your door unlocked?" It was a simple question, but it did stop Kaze dead in his tracks as he turned to his own house. Sure enough, the door was wide open, and kaze felt his ire rise as he headed towards his own home. Yuki followed, her look rather curious on what was happening, never remembering an instance where Kaze would have been so careless as to leave his own door unlocked, but following was a statement that she did expect. "No, I did not."

With a somewhat sarcastic knock on his own door, Kaze looked inside his own house to an incredibly annoying sight for him. "Why?" He asked in a forceful tone as he saw inside of his house were the three members of the rabble club, Orochi, Daichi, and Deku. Deku just gave him a sheepish grin and a wave, as Kaze noted that at his sight was a white sack full of protrusions that did not look too dissimilar from his own tops hats and capes. He also noticed that sitting on his living room couch was Daichi, staring up at Tsukasa's personal mural with something similar to contempt, whilst around his neck was his own copy of Kaze's cape with his own personal touch of a monocle. And Orochi had raided Kaze's fridge for a sparkling water, sipping that in one hand whilst resting at his side, much to Kaze's anger, was the Monsterkuma head he had collected once again being tampered with by a small child.

Deku decided to be the first to answer, giving a rather nervous look as the sweat ran down his face staring up at the incredibly muscular Inquisitor who was glaring a hole through him "Well I figured we could… do some housekeeping for you while you were out. It was... it was Orochi's idea."

Orochi rolled his eyes "Oh sure my fault, you asked me if you thought Kaze would come back, and I said no. So you started picking the lock and poof, inside we were."

Deku said turning to Kaze "Before you ask I didn't lock pick your house, the Kubs told us while I was trying to lock pick your houses, that lock picking these doors are impossible and that all the doors are unlocked ot begin with."

Daichi looked over and gave a small bow, the cape he was wearing coming up slightly and rolling down his back "If it's any consolation, I was actually housekeeping. Your underwear drawer has now been completely organized."

Kaze actually felt a shudder go up his spine at the thought of Daichi going through his delicates. "I see… from now on please refrain from touching any of my clothing." Kaze then walks past him to deal with the two troublemakers. "And you… return my clothing." Pointing accusingly at Deku, to which the thief relented and dropped his sack.

"Fine, it wasn't like it was that valuable anyway. You know there are knock off of your clothes all over the internet right?" Deku commented to which Kaze gave him a look that could only be given by someone who had never used the internet in his life "... I did not." Daichi then took the clothes sack and hummed a tune as he walked upstairs to delicately return all of Kaze's clothes to their rightful place.

With that finished, Kaze then walked over to the couch and addressed the final nuisance in the room, the game designing brat Orochi. He looked at him, and then pointed at the Monsterkuma head "That is also mine."

Orochi looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, putting the cap on his water and playfully tossing the bottle from his right to his left hand, then back again. "Oh and here I thought that was public knowledge. Or do the giant flesh eating monsters in the middle of the night mean nothing to the rest of us?"

That seemed to hit Kaze in the gut but not enough to make him back down "I placed the head at the bulletin board, everyone should know this by now. I had to retrieve it for a meeting with Tomomi two days ago, and since it was late I returned it to my home."

Orochi shrugs a bit as he tinkered with the mechanical head "Hmm, well I didn't get to see it for the few hours you kindly "allowed us" to be informed. I now think I see the points the hypno bitch was talking about."

Kaze's ears pricked up at that as he leaned in and glared at the kid designer "What was that?!"

Orochi seemed to smirk, realizing he knew something Kaze didn't and made the zipping motion over his mouth. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Yuki chimed in for a moment "I believe he wouldn't ask if he didn't."

Kaze looks over to her and nods "I appreciate the insight, though I have learned that is simply a turn of phrase people use when they have no comeback and feel the need to be clever and annoying."

Orochi felt a frown cross his face as he raised his fist in anger "Hey, I'll have you know clever and annoying are both of my middle names!" Kaze just let that stupid comeback hang in the air and not dignify it with a response before Orochi huffed and looked away. "Whatever… either way these things look awesome. I want to keep this."

"No." Was the stark answer coming out of Kaze's mouth in response, but seeing the head again did remind him of the presence of the Monsterkumas last night during the attack. His memory returned in a hazy blur, but he remembers the fight with the Monsterkuma that nearly cost him his leg, his wound flaring up as he stood on it and nearly made him go down, his body only staying up and running right now on pure adrenaline. Kaze nods his head a bit at Orochi "You may not keep it… but I will be sure to show it to everyone so they are properly informed."

 **MONSTERKUMA'S HEAD ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

Orochi seemed to continue his pouting pose as he just shoved the head to the side, like a kid who was told he couldn't have a toy and now pretended he didn't want it anyway "That doesn't benefit me though."

Whilst the boy was there though, Yuki saw fit to ask her own question to the young ultimate, her face particularly inquisitive as she asked him "So, what did you do last night?"

Orochi perked his head up and let out a loud groan "You mean at those stupid "bears'" place? They made me clean up all their shit as they watched some stupid action movies about people dying. Think they were called Trigger Havoc or Goodnight Desperados….. something like that. It was weird, Monokuma was laughing at them like they were home movies or something. They kept dropping chips and spilling soda and stuff on the floor, it reeeeallly sucked."

Kaze looked over and felt a frown come as he felt another lead vanish "So… you are saying the kubs were inside their house all night last night?"

To which Orochi nodded quickly, his hand waving at them like he just wanted the conversation to be over "Yeah yeah, we were all there, so no, they weren't at the crime scene or whatever if that's what you're wondering."

 **OROCHI'S ACCOUNT ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS**

Yuki poked Kaze's shoulder as she pointed outside the house, saying they should get moving but also looked like she wanted to speak with him. As they left the house, Kaze seemed to entrust their behaviour in the hands of Daichi, who if nothing else, at least was loyal to Kaze. Once they were safely outside, Yuki turned and looked Kaze in the eyes "Kaze, I have noticed something." She lightly tugged him along as they walked, moving them towards Tomomi's house. You realize the differences between the layouts of the male and female houses right?"

Kaze seemed to give her a curious look "No I wasn't aware there were any differences… show me." As they headed towards Tomomi's house, Yuki took a minute to move Kaze to the side of the house and show him the layout from the outside.

And from there she began to rattle off information again as it left her brain "The male and female houses have practically the same structure. Whilst you were talking with Deku and Orochi, I searched the house to confirm my curiosities. Both houses have a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and an extra room with which they can transform it into whatever they wish to. She then tugged his arm to go around the back of the house, where he saw a small garden area for Tomomi. Kaze thinks back and remembers in Yuki's backyard there was also a garden, but as he looks to the houses on the yard next to the house, where Shino would be sleeping, there was no backyard. Yuki then regained his attention and pointed to a door at the back of the house. "Thus female houses have doors to the backyard, but male houses do not."

Kaze frowns a bit as he realized what she was getting at "I see…."

Yuki however to demonstrate a point walks up to the door and moves it in either direction, only to trigger a small clicking sound to indicate a locking mechanism "However these doors only open from the inside, so much like the front door, you would either need the key to the house, or be let in from the inside."

Kaze felt his hand go to his chin as he looked up to the sky in silent contemplation "So… if there was no way into the house,"

Yuki nods her head quickly as they walked back around to the front of the house "That is correct and to test that theory I had Deku attempt to break into my house on the third day," Kaze gave her a incredulous look. "He couldn't he good i didn't even here him do it while inside."

 **HOUSE LAYOUT ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

 **NO WAY IN ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

After that little detour Kaze went up to the front door of Tomomi's house, only to realize that the magnetic lock that would hold the door close had been turned off. That did make sense, after all if they could not search Tomomi's house, this case would be unfair and ruin the spirit of the game. Her house may contain some vital clues after all, so with a nod from both of them, the investigating duo headed inside of the now deceased Tomomi's house. Once inside, they realized they were not alone, the sound of talking coming from the upstairs room. Kaze took the lead as he headed towards the noise, Yuki following behind him as they both saw that the lights were indeed on upstairs, and in the bedroom looking into the spare room were the two friends Tsukasa and Kiaria, the dance painter and violinist discussing with one another small details of the case. Once Kaze walked in, Tsukasa almost sensed his presence and turned to him, a smile coming across her face as she approached him. "Kaze, me and Kiaria have been looking into Tomomi's house to see what we could find." She had a big smile on her face, the thought of being helpful to the investigation and Kaze a very pleasant one for her to be sure.

"I see, very good. What have you found so far?" Kaze questioned as he walked into the room with Tsukasa and Yuki by his side. He looks into the room and sees that there were papers and equipment thrown throughout the room. Her film developing dark room she had set up in the closet, cameras, desks, everything in the spare room was just completely trashed. She appeared to have turned it into a room that you would find at a newspaper building, development equipment and cameras everywhere. It seemed like she wanted to make this place more comfortable for herself.

Kiaria said to him "Well, we found out whoever came in here really wanted to figure something out, or get something from this room."

Tsukasa nodded, and as Yuki passed Kaze to investigate the room, Kaze was once again getting information from the other people in the town. Tsukasa began to speak her mind "Yes, it had to have been something only Tomomi knew about. But we searched everywhere here, and all we could find was equipment and pictures. There weren't any newspaper articles though, which we found a little weird because Tomomi got at least one back from Monokuma. You would think she would have more." Kaze thinks back to that fateful day that he yelled at Tomomi over the article about the Ultimate City… and how he never got a chance to apologize to her for it. It brought a visible frown to his face as he hunched over. Tsukasa didn't truly get the context, but she felt herself feel the need to help him, so she leaned forward and gave him a big hug, her body pressing against his as the tall dance painter hugged the Inquisitor. Kaze didn't resist it, he didn't return it, but he didn't resist either, as his arms hung loosely letting her give him even the smallest of comforts.

"Thank you…" Kaze muttered out as he lightly moved her back with his hands, touching her shoulders lightly as he took a deep breath to regain his composure. "Is that all that was weird?" As Kaze scanned the room with his own eyes, he must admit despite the room being a mess, all it did was indicate that whoever was in here was looking for something, it didn't seem to show what, with all the files and random photos strewn about.

"No." Kiaria cut in as she walked up next to Tsukasa "We also haven't seen Tomomi's camera, you know the one that she had on her at practically all times? We didn't see it on her body either so we assumed it would be here." Kaze scratches his chin a bit as he nods his head, that was strange. She never left without that camera, so to see that it wasn't here or on her body was peculiar. Where did it run off to?

"Kaze…" Yuki looked at him and nodded her head a bit. "I made a discovery, I will meet you outside." To which she quickly walked past Tsukasa and Kiaria, not even offering the most basic of greetings as she walked by, lost in her own thoughts again.

Kaze frowns as he realizes he didn't really have time to make idle chit chat, he had to investigate all areas he could and he was crunched for time. "Tsukasa… keep searching that room, you too Kiaria. If we missed anything you find it. This trial needs to go well or we are all in danger." Tsukasa returned his frown as she realized Kaze was going to leave so soon, but she nods in return, and gives an enthusiastic raise of her hand and shook her fist as she loomed at the room again "Don't worry Kaze, we will search the heck out of this room!"

Kaze felt certain prideful hope at her enthusiasm, and as Tsukasa and Kiaria returned to their investigation, he must return to his, as he walked downstairs and left the house to find Yuki in the middle of the street. She gave him a nod and began to walk down back to the main plaza, urging Kaze to follow her, and so he did. He caught up to her and asked the simple question. "So, what did you find?"

Yuki replied with a simple statement "It's what I didn't find, the redactor is missing.."

Kaze seemed a little confused, until he realized exactly what she meant. The redactor that Tomomi had found from Monoking's room, that revealed the alleged secrets about everyone here that was kept under lock and key, the secrets she wouldn't tell anybody…. They weren't in her room. "So… that's likely what the killer was looking for… but why"

Yuki nodded her head in response "Yes, and with everything in mind, it is reasonable to believe the killer has it." That could be bad… very, very bad.

 **TOMOMI'S ROOM ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

As they walked back into the main street, Kaze saw the bulletin board Kaori mentioned earlier and an idea crossed his mind. If he remembered correctly, the bulletin board contained a pocket for maps of the Ultimate City. Sure, the other districts had been crossed out for now, but just having an overview of the First District in this case would be very helpful. He signaled for Yuki to wait for him as he ran over to the bulletin board and sure enough, that pocket containing the maps was still there. Kaze put the map into his pocket for now, but having the overview of the city could be very helpful for the trial.

On the map, the overview showed that the First District all consisted of one road that went in two seperate directions. One direction went into district two, that was currently blocked off by the rubble barricade not allowing access, as shown by a red X in its place. This road was the Main Street, and had the Police Station on the end closest to the side street and neighborhood, followed by the ironically crumbled Fire Station and finally the Hospital, which was closest to the rubble pile. The other road went to the park, a long section of road about 10 minutes of walking distance in total was there, and along it on the right side was the Restaurant first, and then Ulti-Mart (which was the size of about three other buildings put together. On the other side of the road were some crumbled buildings, and the Power Plant closest to the park. It was worth noting that above the Power Plant was a yellow X, meaning that area was potentially unsafe whilst inactive, as most of the electrical circuits in the power lines were isolated to the wires above the Power Plant, and by even going near the building, you could risk electric shock. Next to the Power plant and Ulti-Mart was the park. a large green section of land with a Monokuma head where the Kirigiri statue used to be (puhuhuhu), a marker where the pond was, on the left side of the park in line with the buildings on the streets, and finally followed by the Subway tracks. And of course at the far end after making the turn was a five minute stretch of road that lead back to the Neighborhood.

 **DISTRICT ONE LAYOUT ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

Kaze returned to Yuki as they decided to head to the Power Plant next. They had to, for they had to investigate the power outage last night that could have provided the killer the cover of darkness to pull off their crime. Kaze still wasn't entirely sure how though, his mind racing as he wondered how the criminal even in the dark could have gotten past him. It… made no sense. How did Tomomi die? When did she die? Who killed her? Questions rushed through his mind as he reached the Power Plant and to Yuki's… not at all surprise he just barged right in, needing to be as quick and thorough as possible.

Once inside, Kaze was a bit annoyed to see that there were others there. He didn't dislike them but he wasn't really in the mood for nonsense right now. With that said, the people in the Power plant consisted of Satoshi, Kaoru, and Haruna. Luckily for Kaze, it seems they would be helpful, as the latter of the group seemed to be poking at something in the corner, her mouth ajar a bit as she loudly mumbled about what it could mean. Kaoru and Satoshi however seemed to be arguing over who made a certain discovery first.

"The power outage was clearly caused by the power of the Malevolent Winds of Algortima! Look they are right here!" He accentuated his "point" by pulling out a green tinted card with the picture of a typhoon on it, in the middle of it was an evil wizard's face.

Kaoru looked at him and gasps, her hands going to her cheeks in shock "While that is genius… no! It was clearly caused by an evil person coming in here and pressing the button, likely while muttering "nyeh heh heh heh" to themselves!" Kaze looked to the side of them and saw that yes, there was a large red button about the size of a fist in the right hand side of the plant. There was also a little sign in there that read "any tampering with areas surrounding power switches will result in power outage. In case of power outage, backup generators will come online in 1 hours time if not physically repaired."

"Yes! EXACTLY! You have perfectly described Algortima!" Satoshi looked so smug as if she proved his point, to which Kaoru readied her spritz bottle on him, but this time he was ready, doing a dodge roll to the side as he waggled his finger at her "HAHA! Too quick for you!" Satoshi and Kaoru readied their weapons of choice, Satoshi armed with his magnificent stacks of cards, and Kaoru with her little perfume bottles labeled "Childhood Trauma" and "Skinned Knee." It would have been an epic fight to watch and partake in… if it wasn't for not just the nerdy context but that it just turned into them spraying and throwing cards at each other while yelling child-like insults. Kaze decided to ignore them as her and Yuki walked over to Haruna, yet he did make a mental note of the outage himself and what he found inside here.

 **POWER OUTAGE ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

Whilst in the Power Plant, Kaze also discovered a small little bobblehead sitting on a console. It was one of a man in an all yellow jumpsuit with the strangest hair and teeth. This man has made some very poor decisions in his life if he thought pink hair was a good idea. His life will probably amount to nothing but chasing girls way out of his league. He put the bobblehead in his back pocket, swearing he heard "Hey hey hey!" as he did so. He felt dirty now. He then decided to go see what Haruna was poking at.

Once Kaze was close enough to Haruna he gasped, making the Online Reviewer jump and (in true anime style) make her chest bounce as well for the pleasure of an invisible audience. She held her chest for a minute whilst giving Kaze a firm glare "Kaze don't scare me like that! What?!"

"That!" Kaze pointed as they saw on the floor in the corner of the Power Plant was Tomomi's camera. The lens was busted and cracked, crumpling back into the side of the metallic structure. He noticed on the side of it were stickers, cute little emojis and small pictures that couldn't be bigger than pocket sized, and one of a peace sign that nearly made Kaze, stonewall Kaze… crack a tear out of his eye. She… she was gone… the girl that just wanted #worldpeace… and she was gone. Kaze felt his fist clench as he unintentionally snatched the camera out of her grasp, Haruna giving a glare his way as she rubbed her wrist whilst Kaze held the last remaining memento of Tomomi.

Yuki had to take over in the questioning while Kaze was out of it "Was this here when you arrived?"

Haruna gave them a very stern loom at them just taking over and ripping her discovery out of her hands, but she nodded her head. "Yeah, it was like this and in this very spot when I came in. Have no idea how it got here."

Yuki closed her eyes in contemplation, and then let out a small wince as she felt a spark fall on the back of her neck, delivering a small shock as she looked up towards the blue glowing power lines above her. Since the power was back on they were in full circuit and once again showering the area with sparks. Yuki gripped Kaze's wrist and nods to him "Unsafe, let's go." once their backs were turned, Haruna let a small smirk show, the karmic justice pulling through for her in that moment.

Kaze was pulled out of the Power Plant, not even noticing Yuki begin to walk away as he was stuck in his mini trance over her camera. He felt his hands clutch the once cool metal, now heated from constant electrical sparks showering down on it. He clutched it in his hands and felt his head touch it, remembering one of his better friends that he made here, one that he will never be able to apologize to. "I will avenge you."

 **TOMOMI'S CAMERA ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

He put the camera away and his eyes scanned the area, seeing that Yuki was heading towards the park, where he could also see the bodies of Kyojin and Shino standing as they appeared to be talking to someone. Once he got closer he realized that they were talking to two females he hadn't seen yet during the course of the investigation, Kerria and Tokaku. Tokaku appeared to be writing something down as Kerria was the one doing the talking.

"Thank you for your time sweethearts adieu." She gave a cute smile to the boys, which made Kyojin let out a wolf howl, as her and Tokaku turned their gaze over to Yuki and the joining Kaze. Tokaku let out a bit of a hard glare but it softened as she walked over to him. "So, you and Yuki are the investigation team huh?"

Kaze crossed his arms and gave her a questioning look, as if he wasn't sure if there was a problem or not "So what if we are? I am the Inquisitor, she is helping me."

Tokaku let out a little "tisk" noise in agitation as she looked away "You could have killed Tomomi and yet they still let you walk around? Especially while Takeshi is locked away?"

Kaze gave her a glare of absolute anger as he took a vengeful step towards her "Watch your mouth! Do not compare me to an attempted murderer! I have not been charged with anything and I am innocent, and intend to prove it!"

She almost gave an amused stare as her eyes became little hypno swirls, her fingers clicking together with her long gothic nails "I see, rules only apply when you're the one giving them… well, man in charge, here." She smacked a sheet of paper against his hands. "I did some work of my own, not like anyone will care and you will get all the credit. Just try not to get us all killed out there."

Kerria walked over to Tokaku, and as if taunting Kaze, showed off a magnificent looking Ruby colored spider ring she took from Ulti-Mart. "We really should be going, to one last look around before the trial starts."

Tokaku nods her head and puts a supportive arm around Kerria's shoulder, nodding her head a bit as she did "Good idea…. See you later… Inquisitor." And with that, the two gothic attired women were gone, only leaving the presence of their strong personalities behind and a sense of anger and resentment oozing off of Kaze's body. The Hypnotist seemed to have some sort of problem with him and the way things were, but the way she handled it was really beginning to annoy him and get in the way. He did however loom down at her work and saw that it was a list of alibis he saw it was separated into two groups.

With near perfect handwriting showed on the first side it wrote "Alibis at 10PM" Where he saw the names of everyone and something to the side of them.

 _Kaori- Neighborhood seen by others_  
 _Noboru- Neighborhood seen by others_  
 _Yuki- Unknown didn't get_  
 _Kaze- Unknown didn't get_  
 _Kerria- Neighborhood seen by others_  
 _Myself- In my house_  
 _Takeshi- At Prison (Unrightfully)_  
 _Wataru- Claims Subway_  
 _Takara- Claims Subway_  
 _Daichi- Claims his house no one to back it up_  
 _Deku- Claim Neighborhood no one saw_  
 _Orochi- Told me at my mother's house (believed to be lying)_  
 _Tsukasa- Claims to be out Dance Walking at Town_  
 _Kiaria- Claims playing music at Gym_  
 _Satoshi- Neighborhood seen by people_  
 _Haruna Neighborhood seen by people_  
 _Kaoru- Neighborhood seen by people_  
 _Kyojin- Claims Neighborhood said he left to get a milkshake_  
 _Shino- Claims Subway_

 **NEIGHBORHOOD ALIBIS ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

 **OTHERS ALIBIS ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

Finally, he arrived at the park. A sense of dread crawled over his body as he found himself looking over and staring at the pond on the left side of the park. It was apparent how much he blamed himself once the thoughts in his head came out, his memories of him scrambling in the water coming back to light as he grabbed Tomomi's body and pulled her to shore. Maybe, maybe if he was quicker she would still be alive.

No, no focus Kaze! He had to focus on the now, it was all he could do to keep himself together. He approached Shino and Kyojin, whilst Yuki was examining the subway entrance herself seeing if there was any merit to going down there.

Kyojin was on all fours, his body arched like a cat on high alert as he growled in the direction of the far right corner of the park. Kaze looked in that direction and saw the strangest sight her had ever seen in his entire life. In the right corner of the park, were the Monokubs, except they were all lined up as if blocking something. No, no lined up was putting it too normally, the formation went as followed. Monogruff, Monoboss, and Monoking were on the bottom, with Monogruff of course in the middle being the anchor. Next came Monomaxime and Monolisa, who Monoboss definitely wasn't sneaking peeks up her skirt…. Shut up. And finally at the top was Monobabe, her mask asked revealing one of her little purple eyes peeking out as her hand went above her head in a salute, forming a visor to protect her from the sun. And behind them, as if appearing from the aether…. Was a bright red door.

Which the Monokubs were protecting in a pyramid formation.

Shino decided to speak up and state the obvious "The Monokubs are acting weird."

"I can see that." Kaze replied just as tartly. With Shino he felt like he didn't need to make long, vocal statements, he could just deliver information in the quickest way possible as he did with him. They seemed to understand each other on that level at least.

"By the way, I wanted to tell you I saw something last night." Kaze looks over and he nodded his head, urging the Ultimate your guess is as good as mine to continue. "I was with Takara and Wataru last night at the Subway tracks. I was in the park and decided to follow them. At around 9:30 I left, I assume they followed me but I can't say for sure. I also saw Monobabe out but it looked like she was heading somewhere, and she looked hurt. Seems fine now though."

Kaze makes a note of that and gives him an appreciative smile "Thank you Shino, that was very helpful." He may not talk much and may come off as a little strange, but Shino was a very good citizen and Kaze would consider him a friend, at least for the time being.

 **SHINO'S ACCOUNT ADDED TO TRUTH BULLETS!**

"Anytime." He remarked as he walked over and sat down on a park bench. Kyojin stayed in his pose, as if he was an annoyed dog and any provocation could set him off. Kaze decided it was best to leave him alone as he headed over towards the Monokubs, his approach triggering Monobabe to perk up and point at him.

"INTWUDA! INTWUDA AWERT!"

Before Kaze could truly question them however, he heard the ominous sound again… the sound of the loudspeakers coming to life.

*DING DONG, DONG DING!*

With it, a small image of Monokuma sitting at a Mayor's desk came into view, his back to the camera with his gaze out at a burning hellscape outside. To represent him though, and for branding reasons, there was an emblem of his own face on the back of his chair. From the view of his arms and legs available, the others could tell he was in a small black suit. "Citizens, this is an announcement from your Despairing Mayor, not the hopeful wannabe you think cares about you. The investigation is now over. Please report to the Subway Platform within the next half an hour, or you won't like the consequences. It's trial time!"

The image then cut out as all of the Monokubs let out a collective smirk behind their masks, all of them staring down Kaze as Monoboss was the one to speak up first "Awe dat's too bad ya little twerp! Too bad, so sad. Too late, so great."

Monogruff let out a belly laugh, his head actually being thrown back by the force of the impact of his own laugh "No more questions, now get to the trial!"

Kaze raised his finger and in an almost mocking tone "May I at least ask why you are guarding a door in such a ridiculous fashion?"

Monolisa turned her nose up at him, her hair spinning around to the side and almost smacking the air in front of him"What? Have you never seen a sibling bonding pyramid before?"

Monoking shakes his head "You must have had a lonely childhood…. I wish we could have traded."

Monomaxime gave a nod of his head to the subway tracks "Now run along now. No more questions about the door, you haven't made it far enough in the game yet to access it."

Monobabe finally comments "Tink of us as a checkpoint! Yeah pwogres!"

Kaze let out a heavy sigh and noted he had no other choice but to leave them be. As he headed to the Subway he saw the forms of the other residents beginning to head inside, such as Shino, Kyojin, Satoshi, Kaoru, Haruna, and of course Yuki herself. Kaze followed them inside and within the next twenty minutes the subway platform began to become more crowded, the bodies of the 19 remaining Ultimates all rushing onto the platform to meet the time limit set by Monokuma. Once they were assured everyone was in, the Monokubs stood at the entrance to the subway station and ensure that they couldn't leave.

"So… now what?" Foolishly questioned Haruna, for right after she asked that question, they heard a rumble on the left side of the station. Weird, considering the right side was where the trainyard was, and on the left side was just a wall. That was until the wall just opened up in both directions as if unzipping a screen, and barreling through the now open wall was a giant locomotive. The front of it was emblazoned with a Monokuma head, the smokestack above shaked like a giant salmon, and in the giant second car where the passengers would board, were the masks of the six Monokubs imprinted on the side of it, staring into their souls.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Takeshi let out an overly loud reaction that made Takara turn back with a friendly smile.

"Oh Takeshi you got out, hi Takeshi!" The curator greeted him as if nothing was wrong, to which Takeshi gave a short wave back, his initial reaction and face given during said reaction not changing at all.

Emerging out of the front car was Monokuma, atop his head a white and blue striped train conductor's hat and a pair of overalls atop his usual attire of a birthday suit. "Why this is the Kuma Express, we'll make a lot of toys of this to sell to all the bad little boys and girls. It's also your ticket to the City Witch Trial Grounds! I named them that just for you holy man." He lets out a mocking laugh at Kaze as he zoomed back into his train car "Now hope in!"

"Do we really trust this?" Asked a now shaking Wataru before he hunched over in pain, the vibrations in the subway station from the loud noise likely shorting out his hearing aid as the small Ultimate was helped by Takara and Shino.

"Do we really have a choice?" Answered Tokaku, deciding to be the brave one as she stepped aboard the train first. As the doors didn't close immediately and trap her, she was quickly joined by Takeshi, then Deku, then Kerria, and soon everyone one by one stepped in until only Kaze and Yuki were left.

"We will do this Yuki." Kaze stated with as much confidence as he could muster. "And for what it's worth. Thank you for knowing it wasn't me… I'm glad even after you know I wouldn't kill one of these citizens."

"I know and Kaze me knowing you didn't kill Tomomi has something to do with who you are because Kaze I know you're willing to kill someone, I know you're ruthless enough to take a life but I know you. This was sloppy, it's too obvious… you would never have made your kill that sloppy and for that… I am sure about" She replied in a matter of fact tone that was as cold as ice and as sharp as a dagger before boarding the train herself, Kaze finally stepping on as the doors closed behind them. The Kubs wave them off with a chime of "So Long, Bear Well!" Before poofing into smoke and disappearing off the train platform entirely.

Once in the train car everyone took their positions inside. Starting from the lower right corner, Kerria was sitting in the corner seat, one leg crossed over the other as she stared out a window. Tokaku was in the seat across from her, her fingernails touching each other as they nervously clacked together. Takeshi was holding onto a railing near them, his own muscle holding him up as he leaned against it, his teeth clenched in agitation. Deku was taking up three seats to himself, laying down on them with his arms behind his back, staring up at the ceiling. Noboru was in a seat near him, sitting with his knees on the seat and his face against the window as he nervously watched the tracks go by. Kaori was in the seat next to him, straight faced towards the middle, her eyes scanning the others for signs of motion sickness. Towards the middle of the train, Satoshi and Kaoru sat next to each other, playing rock, paper, scissors to try and keep their minds distracted. Kyojin knelt close to the ground, holding his stomach as it seemed all the stress was catching up to the poor boy. Orochi was in the seat across from them, laughing at him as he pointed before Haruna shut him up with a cuff to the back of the head. Yuki was near them, her head down as she was rifling off information to herself about the case to go over it in her mind. Wataru was holding his head in agony near the back, Takara trying to comfort him by rubbing his back. Tsukasa sat down near Kaze, her legs over his as she covered her eyes with her hands, not liking the bland colors outside rushing past her and of course stress having a part of it. Kaze stared ahead with a deep breath, trying to keep control of himself during this stress filled time. Kiaria was in the seat next to him, her hands playing an invisible violin as she kept her eyes closed. And finally in the back was Shino, who was leaning against the back of the train with his arms crossed, his eyes emotionless as he just… watched.

The train kept going roaring down the tracks as the train didn't seem to stop it was a odd thing. Kaze remember taking this train many times during his time in the city but it never felt this long, never as this train ride down these familiar yet different tunnels felt so long, so claustrophobic, so overbearing and yet the train kept on down the path as he could have swore he felt the train did a slight dive heading down, heading somewhere. It felt for a moment that this ride down these tracks were never going to end, what felt like a eternity but most likely was only about a hour, and once you believed the train would never stop… is when it finally did.

With a jarring stop that almost knocked Shino and Takeshi over, the train arrived at its destination. The doors opened back up as Monokuma was nowhere to be found, his small body not located near their stopping point. Each person cautiously stepped out, being real careful in unknown territory. Most of the area was dark, and they made sure to stay near the light of the train platform. Once everyone was out, the door behind the train closed… and the lights came on.

And everyone was treated to a visually appealing, yet horrible sight.

Before them were twenty stands, all put together in a circular formation, each with a nameplate and a picture to represent who would go where. The room before them was decorated with a murky blue and green coloring scheme, like they were in an abandoned park overridden with moss. Kaze was able to figure out this represented the decay of the city itself. Everyone seemed to be stunned silent, their mouths unable to move as it became reality. This was the trial room, this was where it would take place. This was real, this horrible situation was real.

Above them were seven chairs. To the right, Monogruff, Monolisa, and Monoking. To the left, Monomaxime, Monobabe, and Monoboss. And smack dab in the middle, was Monokuma himself.

"Now then, let's get started shall we?" Came the high pitched voice of the despair bear "Everyone to their seats… it's trial time!"

Kaze took a moment before it started to remember why this happened. In his mind, he went back to that image. Tomomi Kamato, his own blade stabbed through her heart, her body pinned above the ground with a pool of blood seeping below her. She was so full of life, the most alive out of anyone here and just wanted the truth to come to life and to keep everyone together. She was one of the best people Kaze had ever met, and now she had been taken from this world.

There is a killer among us, and it is up to the Ultimate Inquisitor, along with the other residents of this horrible city to determine who committed this heinous crime. To survive, they must seek out the killer, and claim justice for the victim.

Kaze said his peace one last time, his eyes forward as he stared straight up into the evil, red slashed eye of Monokuma. "... May God have mercy on their soul….."

….

"For I won't."

TRUTH BULLETS:

 **Monogruff File- "The Victim is Tomomi Kamoto. Her body was discovered in the Ulti-Mart. "Estimated time of death is 11:30 PM. The victim has seemed to have received a bruise to the cranium, along with being Impaled through the chest resulting in her death. The victim also appears to have been waterlogged."**

 **Last Night's Events- Kaze's recount of what happened after he left Tomomi's house. He left to the town, heard a splash, recovered Tomomi's body, and barricaded himself inside the Ulti-Mart.**

 **Kaori's Account- Kaori was on her porch for three hours watching the neighborhood. During this time, she did not see Tomomi enter or leave her house, or let anyone inside.**

 **Tomomi's Body- Tomomi's body was discovered with a bump on her head, and her clothes wet.**

 **Kaze's Blade- The murder weapon. Allegedly stolen from the Police Station. Discovered in Tomomi's body.**

 **Takeshi's Imprisonment- Takeshi states that he was in prison all night the night of the murder and did not see anyone come inside the Police Station.**

 **Police Station Ransacked- The Police Station was discovered with items stolen, the key to the safe taken, and items missing from the safe. Everything was stripped aside from the essentials.**

 **Pole Vault- A pole used in the pole vault at the meat and beat was discovered in the sewer systems. It was found splintered, with bite and scratch marks on the wood.**

 **Sewer Systems- An underground sewer system was discovered that connected the Neighborhood and the Police Station.**

 **Monsterkuma Head- The head of a Monsterkuma. Taken by Kaze the first night he encountered and killed a Monsterkuma. Keeps it in his house.**

 **Orochi's Account- Orochi states that he and the Monokubs were inside all night.**

 **House Layout- Each house is outfitted with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom, and spare room for personal use. Male houses only hold a front door, whilst female houses hold a front and back entrance for accessibility to the garden area in the back.**

 **No Way In- All entrances to Tomomi's house were locked from the inside. There should have been no way to break into the house.**

 **Tomomi's Room- Tomomi's room was discovered in disrepair. Her camera and the alleged redactor was found missing from the room**

 **District One Layout- The First District all consisted of one road that went in two seperate directions. One direction went into district two, that was currently blocked off by the rubble barricade not allowing access, as shown by a red X in its place. This road was the Main Street, and had the Police Station on the end closest to the side street and neighborhood, followed by the ironically crumbled Fire Station and finally the Hospital, which was closest to the rubble pile. The other road went to the park, a long section of road about 10 minutes of walking distance in total was there, and along it on the right side was the Restaurant first, and then Ulti-Mart (which was the size of about three other buildings put together. On the other side of the road were some crumbled buildings, and the Power Plant closest to the park. It was worth noting that above the Power Plant was a yellow X, meaning that area was potentially unsafe whilst inactive, as most of the electrical circuits in the power lines were isolated to the wires above the Power Plant, and by even going near the building, you could risk electric shock. Next to the Power plant and Ulti-Mart was the park. a large green section of land with a Monokuma head where the Kirigiri statue used to be (puhuhuhu), a marker where the pond was, on the left side of the park in line with the buildings on the streets, and finally followed by the Subway tracks. And of course at the far end after making the turn was a five minute stretch of road that lead back to the Neighborhood.**

 **Power Outage- The night of the murder, the power went out in the district for an extended period of time. Backup generators allegedly turned the power back on in one hours time.**

 **Tomomi's Camera- Tomomi's camera was found broken inside the Power Plant. Not on her body.**

 **Neighborhood Alibis- According to Tokaku's list of alibis, Kaori, Noboru, Kerria, Deku, Satoshi, Haruna, Kaoru, and Kyojin were all reported as being in the neighborhood at 10 P.M.**

 **Other's Alibis- According to Tokaku's list of alibis, Tokaku, Takeshi, Daichi, Wataru, Takara, Orochi, Tsukasa, Shino, and Kiaria were not confirmed to be in the neighborhood at 10 P.M. Yuki and Kaze are unknown.**

 **Shino's Account- Shino was with Wataru and Takara in the park until approximately 9:30 P.M, and saw an injured Monobabe come through the park as he left.**

Let the City Witch Trial

BEGIN!


End file.
